She's the Icing to his Cake
by Prongs.xo
Summary: Ash decides to have a party for his 16th birthday before he heads off to a new region. All of his good friends show up, along with Misty. Now that they're older and more mature, will they own up to their feelings for each other, or shy away? Pokéshipping!
1. Chapter 1

_So I decide it's time I do a little pokeshipping… I don't know how good this will turn out, so I guess we'll have to see. I find it kind of hard to write stuff between Misty and Ash, because in my mind Ash will always be too immature (even though he's not really anymore in the D/P series.. It's just how I've known him while he was traveling with misty) with stuff to do with relationships, while Misty would never admit how she feels in a million years. Soooo I'll try my best not to make everyone so OOC. But if I do, I apologize._

_There's going to be some slight contestshipping as well… I can't resist._

_(I ask myself… Why do I always write stories that involve the main character's birthday party? I don't know. So don't ask me xD)_

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

"Ash, honey! You can't be leaving already!"

Ash froze in the doorway of his house in Pallet town. He had his new outfit on and his bag slung over one shoulder and Pikachu on the other. He was just putting on his shoes as silently as he could, planning to slip out of the door without anyone noticing, bright and early in the morning. Unfortunately, that didn't work. His turned around to see his mom standing at the foot of the stairs, her eyes wide and her arms crossed.

Damnit, he thought. "Uh, no, mom, I was uh…" Even after nearly sixteen years of living in this world, he had never learned how to lie convincingly. "I-I was just going out to see my pokemon at Professor Oak's lab!" He finished, thinking, yeah, that aught to do it.

Luckily, his mom was oblivious as ever. "Again? Oh, well tell him I say hi! And ask him about that new pokemon food he said he'd give me for my sweet Mr. Mime."

"Yeah, sure thing, mom!" Ash opened the door, thinking, great, now I have to go all the way up there. Well, I wouldn't mind seeing all my pokemon again.

He was just about out the door when his mom stopped him, again. "Ash, before you go sprinting off to that new region you keep talking about, how about you stay home for a bit?"  
Ash sighed. "But mom…"

"I know, honey, I know. It's just…" Delia paused. "Your sixteenth birthday is coming up in a few days! I was thinking maybe you could have a party!"

"A… party?" Ash considered this new idea. He hadn't had a real birthday party at home since he was ten. After that he would just celebrate his birthday with whomever he was traveling with at the time.

"Yes, a party! You can invite all your friends … You know, I would really like to meet them all, and see the ones I already do know again." Delia looked at her son expectantly.

Ash considered, and then smiled. "Okay, mom, that sounds like a good idea. I'll be back soon."

And he was out of the door in a flash.

"Oh, that Ash. What will I do?" She smiled a sad little smile.

* * * * *

Ash sat down in a field where Professor Oak kept all of the pokemon he was looking after. Scratching Bayleef on the head, he considered what his mom had proposed. It was, in fact, a good idea. He would get to see all of his old friends he hadn't seen in awhile, like May, Max, Gary, Ritchie, Misty…

Misty. Boy, how he missed her. The last time he saw her he was fourteen. She had come to visit him in Sinnoh for a few days, which had turned out to be some of the best days he had had in a long time. They had fought, she swore at him, they talked, they caught up, they fished, they fought some more, she cursed him some more…

It was just like the old days, when they had traveled together in Kanto and Johto.

He had changed a lot since the between the time she saw him in Hoenn and the time she saw him in Sinnoh. Even Ash knew that. His voice was deeper, he was more mature, he was somewhat taller (though not as much as he wished) and he had learned how to treat and act around girls. Though Ash didn't know that, Misty, to her delight, had sure noticed. She subtly hinted that to him, but he was as clueless and dense as ever. That, for sure, had not changed.

Just think how much she'll have noticed I've changed since then, he thought, flexing his muscles, which had become more toned. He wasn't the scrawny little boy she knew so well anymore, but more built and fit. He was almost starting to catch up to Brock in height. About time, too.

"Bay, Bay!" Bayleef rubbed her head against Ash affectionately, snapping him out of his reverie. He stood up, pat Bayleef, and started walking towards the Lab. Many of his pokemon, Bulbasaur, Noctowl, Cyndaquil, Glalie and Swellow, to name a few, had crowded around him, nudging him to play or battle with them.  
"Sorry guys, I have to go see Professor Oak," he said, smiling at them. A chorus of protests sounded from the crowd, and Ash gave in, laughing. He missed traveling with them all so much, and he was sure they missed him. So why not hang out with them some more?

The sun was setting low on the horizon towards the west by the time Ash was walking down the path from the lab. Pokemon food bag in hand, he strolled towards his house, glancing up at the pale orange sky.

"You know what, Pikachu?"

"Pi, pika pi?" Pikachu responded from his left shoulder.

"I think I'm kind of starting to get excited about this party. I really miss everyone, and I know you do too. It would be a great way to start off our journey to the next region!"

"Pika," Pikachu agreed.

Ash opened his door and strolled into the house, a pleasant smell wafting through the air. He walked into the kitchen at the demand of a loud grumbling from his stomach. It's so nice to just have a fridge to come to eat whenever you're hungry, he thought, rubbing his stomach. He opened the fridge door and took out a half empty carton of pecha juice. Next, he raided the cupboards and found his favourite granola bars, right where his mom always kept them.

He chugged back the entire remaining juice and shoved the granola bar into his mouth.

"Ash!"

"Huh?" Ash looked up to see his mother, arms folded and leaning against the wall.

"Now now, I appreciate that you're a growing boy and need your food, but you'll spoil your supper!"  
"Aw, come on mom. I'm hungry!"

"Dear, I'm sure you can wait twenty minutes until supper's ready," said Delia as she stirred a pot of spaghetti sauce on the stove.  
"Are you kidding?" Ash munched on the last piece of the granola bar.

"Honey, how did you manage when you were out traveling, got lost and were starving?"

"But mom, I'm _not _out traveling, I'm at home!"

"There's no different, sweetheart," Delia replied as she stirred pasta into a pot of boiling water.

"Pikaa, pika pika pi!" Pikachu laughed from the counter.

"Aw, buddy, you're supposed to be on my side." Ash frowned at Pikachu.

"Now, as for _you_!" Delia swung around suddenly and picked up Pikachu. "You can eat any time you want!"

"Pikaaa!" Pikachu nuzzled into Delia.

"Fine, whatever," Ash grumbled as he flung himself into a chair in the kitchen. Trust Pikachu to take mom's side.

"Now, honey," Delia started.

"What, mom?" Ash replied, doodling on a piece of paper that he found on the table.

"I think we should start to plan your party!" Delia swung around to face her son. "See that piece of paper there? You should start by making a list of who you want to invite."

Ash looked down and swallowed. The piece of paper was now covered with random doodles of pokemon coming out of pokeballs and gym badges.

"Uh, yeah, sure thing." He flipped the piece of paper over.

* * * * *

By the time supper was ready, Ash had made most of his list, involving a total of nine people.

It was as follows:  
Misty  
Brock  
May

Max  
Dawn  
Gary  
Tracey  
Morrison  
Richie  
Man, he thought. Only nine people? I must have forgotten _somebody_…

Ash's mother came and peered over his shoulders as she placed the spaghetti on the table. "Nine people? Don't you have more friends than that, Ash?" she asked.

Ash & Pikachu sweatdropped. "Uh," Ash said, "Well all of my pokemon are going to be there, of course. That adds another twenty or something." He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he filled his plate with as much food as it could hold and starting chowing down.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
_So that was the first chapter! It's a bit dull now, I know, but it's just to get us started ;) Reviews would be nice… Suggestions on what I should do. As you know, I need something to happen between Misty and Ash, but how can I do it without making them so OOC?_

_And also, if you noticed that I missed anyone important on the list of who Ash is inviting to his party, please let me know!_

_Thanks for reading :) _


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the reviews and suggestions! :]_

_After reading them, I couldn't believe who I had forgotten… Haha._

_Well, here's the second chapter!_

_P.s. I love reviews._

_:D_

_* * * * * * * * * _

With a fuller stomach, Ash's thinking abilities were heightened considerably. This is why, after he had finished eating, he noticed some very important people were missing from the list.

With a flourish, he quickly added five more names to the list. They were: Barry, Angie, Todd, Casey, and Anabel. Out of all the people he had met along the way in his travels, these were some of the people he remained in contact with.

"Okay honey, so that is a total of fourteen people. That means we're going to need fourteen party hats!" Delia was sitting beside Ash, reviewing his list.

Ash gulped. "Party hats?"

"Yes dear, it is a party, after all!"

"Mom, I'm not five anymore," Ash grumbled as he got up and rinsed off his plate in the sink.

"You don't have to be five to wear party hats!" Delia sauntered over to him, holding out some money. "Now, I know a darling party shop in Pewter City. I've also ordered some flowers some Cerulean. Would you mind stopping at both of these places? You can pick up Brock and Misty on the way." Delia was pushing Ash towards the door.

"FLOWERS?" Ash stopped dead in his tracks and sweatdropped.

"Yes, honey. Now don't be too long!" Ash's mother pushed him out of the door and threw his backpack. Pikachu ran out of the door just in time as Delia slammed it shut.

"What was that all about?" Ash asked no one in particular as he picking himself up off the ground. He was surprised by the abruptness of it all.

"Pika." Pikachu jumped up onto Ash's shoulder.

"You know buddy, I don't think mom realizes how long it takes to get to Pewter and Cerulean…"

"Pi pi pika!"

* * * * * * * *

After a two full days of traveling and one strange night in Viridian forest, Ash made it to Pewter city. Even though he had traveled through Viridian forest two times, his brain had completely erased whatever paths he knew to take. His talent for getting lost was quite present at always.

Covered in bruises and abrasions alike, Ash stepped onto the main road in Pewter city. His mind was filled suddenly with memories of his first journeys in Kanto, like how hard he trained and how it payed off when he, by some miracle, beat Brock and won the Boulderbadge. That memory led on to a particularly fond one, where Misty awarded him with the Cascadebadge, when he didn't actually defeat her. Smiling, he continued on the road, longing to repeat the first moments of his journeys. They were the most special, to him. Traveling with Brock and Misty wasn't like traveling with anyone else. It was the best combination of being around the best friends you could ever have and getting so pissed off with them that you were in half a mind to turn around and head back home.

Ash looked down, still thinking hard. It was quite unlike him to feel so nostalgic, but everyone gets like that sometimes, don't they?

Ash snapped out of his reverie and realised he was at the Pewter Pokemon Center. How did I end up here? He asked himself. He was meaning to go to the Pewter Gym to find Brock, but apparently his feet had led him here while he wasn't paying attention. Well, I might as well go in, he thought.

He stepped through the sliding doors and into the center. Looking around, he saw many trainers seated on the large sofas, some holding hurt pokemon and others chatting away, making plans to battle. He walked up to the counter, but found someone was already there.

"…Your eyes sparkle like no other Nurse Joy's eyes have ever sparkled. You have healed so many sick and wounded pokemon, many of them mine. After all these years of mending my pokemon, I think it's time you mend me. My heart."

Ash sweatdropped as he realized it was Brock at the counter, sweet-talking Nurse Joy. Well, I should have expected this, thought Ash. With no Misty, Max or Croagunk to snap him out of out, Brock was on a roll.  
"…beauty beyond compare. It's been years I have been asking you this, my sweet love, and you have always turned me down. But as you can see, I am older now, and I can love you like-"

Ash looked around helplessly until he noticed Pikachu staring at him meaningfully. "Do it," Ash said.

"Pikaaaaa…. CHUUUUUUUUUUU." Pikachu let out a strong thunderbolt, frying Brock and hopefully, setting his mind right.

"Nursseee… Joy…" he mumbled as he sank to the ground.

Nurse Joy just sighed, and looked up at Ash. "Can I help you?"

"No, thanks, but I can help you." Ash turned around and yanked Brock out of the center.

Brock looked up with indignation. "You just got in the way of true love."

"Yeah, yeah, we have heard it all before."

Once Brock was back up and running, they headed towards his house behind Pewter Gym.

"So you want to head to the new region already?" Brock had his hands in his pockets.

"Actually, no," Ash replied. "I'm kind of having a party… thing."

"A party?"

"Yeah. It's my birthday soon and my mom wants me to have a big party with everyone."  
"Hmm, I see," Brock said as they entered Brock's house.

Ash filled him in on how his mother wanted him to get some supplies from the party store in town, then head to Cerulean to pick up Misty and some flowers.

"Sorry Ash, but I can't come right away. My parents took the first chance they got to get away. Now that I'm home I have look after my sibling for awhile. But my parents should be back in a few days."

"Oh," Ash replied.

"How about you go to Cerulean, and you and Misty can pick me up on the way back?"

Ash pondered that. A few days alone with Misty… That sounded more than alright with him.

"That sounds good. But before I leave, how about some of your cooking?"

* * * * * *

A few sun and moons later, Ash found himself facing the Cerulean Gym. He looked up at the Dewgong on the sign and swallowed hard. This was it. He was about to see Misty for the first time in a long time. What is she going to think of me? Will it be like old times or completely different? Will she have changed? Have I changed, for the worse? Many questions swirled through Ash's mind as he tried to smooth down his hair. He took a deep breath and rang the bell.

He waited.

"Like, who is it?"

Ash turned around to see a speaker by the doorbell. One of Misty's older sister's snooty voice sounded from it.

"Uh, it's Ash," he replied tentatively.

Suddenly, the door swung open.

One of Misty's sister's, most likely Daisy, stood there, her long blonde hair billowing down her back. She was clad in a bright pink bikini.

"What do you like, want? You totally interrupted our practice session for the Mermaid Mania water show. It's tomorrow, so like, we're like _totally_ on a tight schedule." Daisy peered down on Ash.

Ash ogled for a moment until he came to his head. "Well, I was wondering-"

Daisy cut him off. "The tickets are already sold out, so like, you can't have any. Try to purchase them like, earlier next time, okay?" She was about to swing the door closed.

"I'm not here for the Mermaid show thingy," Ash replied dumbly. Daisy just looked at him.

"Wait a minute..." she narrowed her eyes. "You look totally familiar. Hold on a sec." She disappeared down the hall.

"Wait!" Ash yelled after her.

She suddenly reappeared with two other bikini clad girls behind her. One had bright pink hair while the other, dark blue.

"Lily, Violet, I like, _so_ recognize him!" Daisy looked back at her sisters.

The other two looked down at him. "Oh, my Arceus, this is like, totally like, the guy that Misty has a picture of in her room!"

The pink haired one looked at the one who just spoke. "Violet, you are _so_ right!"

Ash's head was overloaded. "W-what? Misty has a picture of me in her _room_?"

Lily turned to him. "Yeah, it's on her desk. It's you, her and that gym leader from Pewter City. Roark, or whatever his name is."

"Uh… Roark is the gym leader of Oreburgh city." Ash thought hard. Misty never mentioned meeting Roark. Plus, all three of them haven't been together, so she couldn't have a picture of the three of them together, could she? Ash was confused.

"Where's Oreburt city?" Lily twisted a piece of pink hair in her fingers, cocking her head dumbly.  
Ash was just about to reply that it was in Sinnoh, but he was cut off.

"Not Roark, you dummy, it's Brock!" Daisy scowled at her sister.

Oh, thought Ash. She meant Brock.

"Right. Well, I was like, _so_ close enough!"

The trio startled squabbling, to Ash's annoyance.

"Um… hello?" he said in attempt to get back their attention.

"Oh, we're totally sorry," said Violet, turning back to him.

"Yeah, um, is Misty there?" Ash asked, biting his lip.

"Misty? No, she's not," replied Lily.

"She said this morning that she was going out shopping. Like, how totally rude is _that_, right when we're practising." Daisy rolled her eyes.

"She's not even in this show, Dase," Violet looked at Daisy.

Ash was getting frustrated. "Do you know where I could find her?"

Daisy sighed and looked at him. "We totally have to practice now. How am I supposed to know where Misty goes? Just like, come and check back in a few hours." She shut the door.

* * * * * * * * * * *

_Misty will be coming soon… I promise ;) _


	3. Chapter 3

_Yay! Another chapter!_

_This one might start to get quite exciting._

_Guess who appears? _

_I think you can. ;)  
_

_Hope you like it! :D_

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"You're so cute."

"No, you're cute."

"No, you are."  
"No, you're cute."  
"No, you're cute!"  
"No, you are."  
"No, you are!"

"You definitely are the cute one."

"Aw, James!"

Ash looked over at a giggly couple on a bench, nauseated. He was at Cerulean's Cape, forgetting completely that Daisy had told him that she was out shopping. Instead of checking the popular stores, he went around looking in places he thought Misty might be. So far he had searched in popular fishing spots, the Pokemon Center and now, the Cape.

He wondered why people had always said Misty was commonly found here. Sure, maybe for the fishing, but all there was to see was some ocean and many, _many _gag-worthy couples.

Speaking of couples, James over on the bench had startled tickling his girlfriend. "James, stop it!" the girl squealed, giggling louder than ever.

Ash leaned over on the rusty railing, inhaling the fresh, salty air, trying to block out the sloppy sounds that were now coming from the bench.

Did Misty come here not just to fish and see water pokemon, but to be with another guy, like the couple a few feet away from him? Would they sit on the bench until the night comes, watching to sunset? Would they _kiss_?

Ash's mind was suddenly filled with images of Misty leaning into a handsome man with tousled brown hair, his hands on her waist, hers around his neck.

_Whoa_, Ash said in his mind. It was hard to picture Misty with a guy. Not because she wasn't pretty- Ash definitely thought she was attractive. No, it was hard because it filled him with such strange emotions, ones that felt foreign, yet as if they had always been there.

Suddenly, the Misty in his mind and the faceless man fell into a deep, passionate kiss.

His mind became overwhelmed and he felt suddenly aggravated. How dare someone else kiss Misty! No one else can kiss her; no one else can touch her, because-

Because why? Why, Ash, why? He asked himself this over and over again.

He tried to suppress the emotion he felt for her that he had worked to suppress for many years.

I definitely do not like Misty like that, he told himself firmly. She's just one of my friends… my best friends… my best, beautiful, hot friend…

No! He shook his hand and balled his hands into fists. It was just too weird to like Misty that way… too… too familiar…

His mind was suddenly snapped back to reality as he heard a different kind of giggling coming from the two on the bench.

"I think he might be a little crazy," whispered the girl with a giggle.

"Yeah, come on, who talks to themselves like that?" The boy replied and the two recommenced their giggling.

"Pikaaa," said Pikachu defensively from the railing to the two.

Crap, thought Ash. Was I muttering out loud?

Ash took one last look at the couple and the sea before heading back towards the city. He thought it was best that he left before he made more of a fool of himself. Pikachu jumped off the rail and trotted along beside him.

"Pi, pi pikachupi?"

"I guess I could try back at the Gym for Misty, you're right. It's been long enough," Ash replied to Pikachu. "But first I suppose I ought to go to the flower shop or else mom will kill me."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the yellow piece of paper his mom had wrote the address and name of the flower shop on, crumpling it out of a ball. Once it was smoothed out, he read it for the first time:

_Flower Power Flower Shop  
241 Goldeen Avenue_

_Ask for Ed. Tell him the date of the party and pay him for the delivery. You could do with some new underwear, as well. That's why I slipped you a little extra cash._

_Love,  
Mom :)_

Underwear shopping with Misty… That would be quite…

Ash shook his head as he turned onto Golduck Street. "Now, it should be around here somewhere…" Ash paused as he looked up into building number 24, frowning. The sign read: _Puffalot, World Class Smoke Shop_.

That can't be right.

Ash stared dumbly at the building, whose windows were boarded up and door chained shut. He turned around as he heard a voice behind him.

"Hi, are you looking for something?" A friendly looking girl with a brown bob, probably in her late twenties, approached.

"Yeah, thanks, I um, I'm looking for Flower Power Flower Shop. I heard it was here."

"Oh, the flower shop? That's on Goldeen Avenue," replied the girl, smiling amicably at him.

"Uh… Aren't we on Goldeen Avenue?" Ash looked around, dumbfounded.

"Actually, we're on _Golduck_ Street, not Goldeen Avenue."

Ash looked to where she was pointing: a sign that clearly said _GOLDUCK St._

"Oh man." Ash shook his head and asked for directions.

"Turn right on the next street, then left, then another right and head down until you see a sign that says Goldeen Ave," the girl said. She added, "Don't get it confused with Seaking Street." She smiled jokingly.

"Uh, ha-ha, no, I won't." Ash sweatdropped.

"Do you want me to write that down for you?"  
"Sure, that would be great, thanks!"

A few streets later, Ash found himself standing at 241 Goldeen Avenue, looking up at a large, flashy sign decorated with Sunflora, Roserade and Cherrim that read: _FLOWER POWER FLOWER SHOP!_

Ash grasped the handle and opened the door, a wave of powerful aromas hitting his nose. Somewhere in the back of the shop, a bell tinkled softly.

He looked around at the shop. On shelves to his right, there were stacks of fertilizer, soil, glass vases and flower nutrients. Over by the window he saw a small pile of pamphlets that read things such as, "Gloom to Beautifly: A guide on how to keep your garden sparkling" and "VICTREE(bell): How to raise grass pokemon with victory!"  
All around, flowers of every colours of the rainbow were piled high in rows on tall shelves.

Walking through the chilly shop, he found the counter, all the way in the back. In front of him, an unknown girl with short purple hair was getting advice on how to keep her Ivysaur's aroma in check, while on the left of the counter, slightly obscured from view, a redhed girl Ash didn't recognize was bending down, petting the first girl's Ivysaur.

"…twice a day, and it should be smelling pleasant in no time!" An old man at the counter was handing the purple haired girl a small brown paper bag.  
"Thank you, Vernon. I'll just be over here checking out your selection of freesias." The girl walked away and Ash went up to the counter.

"Hi, uh, I was told to ask for Ed?" As Ash said this, he noticed the girl on the left turn slightly towards him out of the corner of his eye.

"Just a moment, son." Vernon wheezed away out of a door behind the counter. With a strong and surprisingly loud voice, he bellowed, "EDWARD!!!"

"Yes, yes, I'm comin', Venon." A short, plump and jolly looking man bounded out from the door. "What do I owe this pleasure?"

"Well, my mom ordered some flowers for a party, and I'm supposed to tell you the date and pay the delivery charge." Ash pulled some money out from his left pocket.

"Jolly good! Might you be Delia Ketchum's son?" The man peered up at him.

"Yes, sir."

Ash slightly noticed the girl bending down turn full on to his direction, still as a statue. Ash didn't pay much mind to it; he got that a lot when he took off his hat. Dawn had once told him that he got a major case hat-head with his hair whenever he took off his hat.  
The man rang up the order on the cash register. "By the gods, you look nothin' like her!" He continued," 'Been hearin' a lot about you lately. Second in the Sinnoh cup now, wasn't it, a year or so back? Your mother was tellin' me all about it. Must'a' been hard, eh?"

Ash handed him the price on the little screen above the register. "Yeah, it was a little disappointing, but I know that someday, I'll get there!" Ash smiled confidently, dreams of finally winning a league shining through.  
"Well from what I hear about you, I'm sure someday you'll get there! By the way, in how many days does the order hafta' arrive?"  
"In a week, sir."

"Jolly good!" Ed said again. "Now, we'll have our Delibird flock deliver them the morning of the party. Sounds good?"

"Awesome. Well, I should probably go now. Bye!" Ash headed turned to head towards the door.

"Goodbye, Ash! Tell Delia I say hi!"

Ash smiled back politely and continued on to the door. An unfamiliar emptiness from his shoulders realised he was missing someone.

"Pikachu?" he called out into the shop, wondering well on earth his buddy could have scampered off too.

Then, he heard a voice, _the_ voice, behind him.

"Forgetting something, Ash Ketchum?"

Ash whirled around and found himself face to face with none other than Misty, with Pikachu sitting happily in her arms.

* * * * * * * * *

_DUN DUN DUNNNN.  
_

_I love cutting the chapter off at such important parts. It's fun to leave you all hanging. xD_

_Nah, I'm kidding, I'm not _that_ mean. ;)_

_The next chapter should be up in a day or so, if all goes good. _

_Egaah, school starts in a week for me so I'll try to finish the story by then. I probably won't have much time to write when school rolls around._

_Anyway, reviews would be nice on these boring, lonely days, waiting for school to come. (Yeah, I'm a bit of a loner sometimes in the summer :P)_


	4. Chapter 4

_I made Ash kind of really dumb in this fic. I know he's not like that as much anymore in the D/P series, but this is how I've known him while he was traveling with Misty. I'm putting it as that Ash gets dumber whenever Misty's around (like how some girls subconsciously act dumber around guys when they like them), or when he's thinking of her._

_In this chapter, things are going to get slightly more intense between Ash & Misty. I know we've all been looking forward to a little bit of that ;)  
_

_Thanks again for the reviews, I love them, they make me so happy! :)_

_* * * * * * _

"Pikachupi!" Pikachu sighed contentedly as he grinned and scampered up to Misty's shoulders.

"Pikachu… what… Misty?" Ash blinked hard, unable to tear his eyes away.

Misty was still the same old Misty, but with many differences, some minor and others more noticeable. Ash still picked up on them all.  
Her usual side ponytail was in, but you could notice that the hair that came out of the ponytail was slightly longer than it was before. Her frame was still thin but there were some definite curves that had developed all over her body, like in the waist, and the bust; she definitely wasn't flat anymore, that was for sure. Also, she had grown slightly, but Ash was surprised to find himself taller than her; when they had traveled back in Kanto and Johto, they were pretty equal in height.  
To top it all off, Misty was wearing a simple, bright aqua blue tank top that set of her blue-green eyes and flaming red hair amazingly. A pair of jean shorts, pink flip flops and an intricate blue and green woven bracelet finished it off.

"Long time no see, Ash," Misty grinned at him.

Ash snapped himself out of it and forced himself to stop ogling at her. He needed to be mature. "Hey, Mist! Wow, you look…" he trailed off, trying not to blue.

Misty stood there, waiting.

"…nice," he finished, hoping not too lamely.

"Well thank you, Ash," Misty replied, looking him up and down. "You do too. You've changed a lot."

"In a good way?" Ash asked quickly.

"Of course, you dummy, or else I wouldn't say that, would I?" Misty replied.

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't be that surprising coming from you," Ash grinned, absent-mindedly trying to set Misty off.

"Wow, a whole two minutes with you and I'm already getting annoyed at you," Misty's eyes narrowed  
"Come on, Mist! You know you're happy to see me." The words slipped out of him before he could stop them.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." Misty looked up at him, steely. Then, she burst out, "Who am I kidding?" and jumped forward and gave him a huge hug.

Ash was completely caught off guard, but then he realised he should probably hug her back. So he did, wrapping his arms around her waist, holding her close. It was a very affectionate moment that many unsaid things went into. They had never hugged each other like that, so affectionately. Ash wanted to hold on forever, and he hoped Misty did too. But… they were in the middle of a flower shop.

"Hey, you kids, this isn't a love shop, you know. Go to Cerulean cape, or something." Vernon was glaring at them from behind the counter.  
Ash and Misty broke apart, embarrassed, but they were grinning slightly. They apologized to Vernon and hastily walked out of the shop, eager to catch up.

"So what brings you to a flower shop?" Ash asked, still grinning.

"Oh, well my sisters are holding a show tomorrow and they put me in charge of decorating, so…"  
"So you thought of flowers," Ash finished for her.

"Pretty much," Misty replied. "What about you?"

"Oh, well…" Ash paused. He just realised he hadn't emailed anyone about the party! His only friends that knew so far were Brock. "I'm sort of having a party for my sixteenth."  
"A party, eh?" Misty smiled slyly.

"Yeah. I came here to get the flowers for the party that my mom had to order, and also come see if you wanted to come…" Ash trailed off hopefully.

"It's in a week, right?" Misty asked.

"How do you know that?" Ash asked, dumbfounded. Whenever he was around Misty, or the topic of Misty came up, he always found himself a little slower than usual.  
"I was right there in the shop while you were talking to the guy, you dummy!" Misty nudged him in the ribs as they walked back towards the gym.  
"Oh right," Ash caught himself. "It's in a week, yeah."  
Misty pondered for a moment, one delicate finger tapping her cheek. She frowned for a tiny moment, and then smirked slightly before saying, "I'm not sure I can make it."  
Ash's heart dropped. She has to come! He thought. Okay, play it cool. No, freak out. No, definitely play it cool, like it's no big deal. Ah, what the hell. "Mist!" he gave her a little nudge. "You have to come!"  
"I don't _have_ to…" Misty replied cunningly.

"I want you to come," Ash said seriously.  
Misty's smirk grew wider. "Are you going to make me, Ash Ketchum?" She raised her eyebrows.

"I think," he said. "I'm just going to have to."

"How are you going to do that?"

Ash paused, unsure what move to make next in this battle.

Misty suddenly let out a peal of laughter. "I'm kidding! Of course I'll come!" She slapped him playfully on the arm. Wow, she thought. Someone's gotten some more muscle since the last time I saw him.

Ash sighed in relief. "Jeez, I thought you were serious for a minute."  
"It seems you haven't gained an ounce of smartness since the last time I saw you, have you?" Misty added as they reached the gym, "Let's not go through the front. My sisters will bombard us."  
They walked around to the back of the gym where they slipped in through a door after Misty typed in the lock combination. Once the door closed, all light was cut off. It was practically pitch black in the hall. "Jeez, why can't I ever find the light switch here?" Misty muttered.  
Ash felt around blindly on the wall to help her find the switch. Suddenly, he tripped on something on the floor and fell straight to the ground landing on something soft and warm. He supposed one of them must have knocked the light switch as the fell, since he looked down and saw he was on top of Misty.

It was silent except for their breathing, which had both suddenly increased. They just stared at each other for a split second until Misty said, "Ash, can you, like, get off of me please?"  
Ash opened his eyes wide and hastily got off of her. He held out his hand to help her up but she ignored it and got up on her own.

"Sorry for that," he muttered, embarrassed, yet somewhat pleased.

"It's okay. But if you want me alive for your party try not to crush me again." Misty smiled slightly at him.  
"Here, let's go up to my room, you can use the computer there to email everyone before it gets to be too late." Misty led him up a staircase off to the left.

Ash glanced around and saw several photos hanging on the wall. Some of them were pictures from the four sisters' childhoods, like one where Misty was in a kiddie inflatable pool, playing with a Marill. Others were more recent, like the one of Daisy, Violet and Lily standing somewhere on a mountain, a beautiful landscape spilling out behind them. Ash grinned as he took in all of the photos depicting Misty's childhood.  
"So you live in the gym?" Ash asked, intrigued.

"Well, the house is technically part of the gym, but it's a whole other section in the back," replied Misty. They reached a door at the end of the hall that said 'Misty' in simple blue letters.  
Realising what would be appropriate to do in the moment, Ash quickly reached around and opened the door for Misty. She looked at him, surprised. He entered in after her, closed the door behind him and he heard her mutter, "At least you've gained an ounce or two of chivalry."

Ash smirked slightly. He looked around at Misty's room.  
It wasn't a large room- probably average to small sized. The walls were painted in a light sky blue, as Ash had expected. Most of the room was taken up by a twin sized bed at the far corner. It had a pattern of various blue shades spilled out across it. A dresser with various knick knacks, hair ties and photos were on the wall opposite to that, while across from the bed there was a closet and a desk.  
Ash peered closer at the photo frames on the desk. The biggest one was one of Misty holding Togepi from a few years back. There was also one of Misty and her sisters, a couple who Ash took to be Misty's parents, and the last one was of her, Ash and Brock.  
Ash thought for a second then remembered exactly where this picture was taken. It was taken while they were traveling around Johto, in a beautiful field of wildflowers somewhere between Cherrygrove City and Violet City. The gang had stopped for a picnic lunch under the shade of a large, breathtaking willow. Not long after they had finished eating, Todd had appeared on the path through the field. It was he who had taken the photo.  
In the picture, Misty was smiling beautifully, holding Togepi. Brock was standing at the left of the photo being… well, Brock. Ash, on the other hand, was on the other side of Misty, grinning widely and doing the peace sign. Now that he looked at the photo, he felt he looked like a huge buffoon. He wished Misty would have a more accurate, less immature and definitely more flattering photo of him in her room.

"I love that picture," Misty said softly, coming up behind Ash, noticing what he was looking at.

Ash was in half a mind to whirl around incredulously and make an excuse for his total geekiness in the photo, but he refrained. "Why?" he asked, choosing to take the calmer path.  
"I don't know… It just reminds me of all the times we had traveling together. It also seems to me like it reflects our personalities a little," Misty said, her eyes shining. She continued. "Like, Brock is just standing normally, and he has that kind of… caring air in his expression. You know, like how he was always looking after us, making us meals."  
Ash nodded, still staring at the photo, though he kept glancing at Misty.  
"And then there's you," Misty smiled as she continued. "You look so…"  
"Moronic?" Ash suggested, wincing.

"Exactly," replied Misty, smirking. "Not just that, but funny and enthusiastic. It reminds me of all the hype and enthusiasm you always had for your gym battles and pokemon… and food," she added after a slight afterthought.

"That still hasn't changed." Ash smiled at her.

Misty smiled back. "I hope not. Those are some of the things I love about you the most."  
Ash paused and then Misty did too, once she realised the word she just said. They just stared at each other kind of awkwardly until Misty hastily pushed Ash onto the computer chair. "Go email everyone," she demanded before walking out of the door.

"Where are you going?" Ash asked, flummoxed.

Ash just barely heard her reply from the hall. "To get you food. I could hear your stomach rumbling from across the flower shop."


	5. Chapter 5

_Soooo so sorry it's taken so long for me to update! I was so busy the first week of school… Well, you know.  
I probably won't update as fast as I used to. It will probably take a week or more for each chapter to come out. Depending on how hectic my schedule gets._

Anyway, enjoy! :)

Thanks for the reviews everyone :D  
I love you all!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with the world of pokemon.  
(Yeaah I forgot to put that at the start of the story... :/)

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  


"AAAAAA! Get away from me, you-you-you…!"

Misty's cry cut through the silent afternoon trees as the original trio traveled though the Viridian Forest. Misty and Ash had picked up Brock a few hours previous, and they were all on their way to Ash's home to prepare for the big party.

Ash looked to Brock, who rolled his eyes but laughed slightly. Ash smiled back and ran down the hill to where Misty was standing, looked devastatingly horrified. Once she saw Ash, she ran around behind him and ducked, holding onto his shoulders.  
Ash's grin grew wider. He was looking forward to this happening. "Misty, you're a gym leader; don't you think you would be able to take care of a tiny, innocent little Weedle?"

"Innocent!?" Misty shrieked back right into his ear. "Look at th-that sharp, p-pointy tail!!"

Ash observed the Weedle, who was now on the ground below a large maple tree. It had big, watery eyes, and had just started to cower and shake.  
"Uh, I think it's more scared of you than you are of it," Ash mused.

"No way!" Misty peeped from behind him.  
"Hey little guy, it's going to be alright," Ash bent down to the Weedle, smiling. It emitted a tiny but high pitched squeak and zipped away into the forest. So much for that, thought Ash.  
"You know, bug pokemon aren't all that bad," Ash said to Misty as he removed her hands from his shoulder and gave her a little push to get her to start walking. "I caught this _huge_ Ariados in Sinnoh. I'm going to show you right when we get home. It's got these huge pincers that click at you, and super long tangly legs, and a very hairy-"

"ASH KETCHUM, STOP IT!" Misty ran from his side and instead, went to walk beside Brock.

"Ash doesn't really have an Ariados, Misty," Brock said as he grinned slightly. "He's just trying to set you off."

"Am not!" Ash protested, turning away. But, of course he was trying to set Misty off. Fighting with her again before the little incident, causing her to stalk off ahead of him had been the highlight of his day, and he was eager for some more.

"You know, I don't know why I ever thought I missed traveling with you," Misty huffed as she scratched Pikachu behind its ears. "You're such a pain in butt."

Ash frowned for a second, and then recovered. "Don't lie, you love it," he teased.

"Why would I say that I don't when I do?" Misty rolled her eyes.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't lie, Ash Ketchum."

"Su-u-re you don't. You just did."

"Why would I love being with you when all you do it make me angrier than a Primape?"

"Because you love it when I make you angry."

"Now, Ashy, listen here. You know that…"

The two continued to banter like two angry Chatot all the way until Viridian city. Brock didn't bother to stop them, because he knew that they were both enjoying it too much. He sighed and looked at Pikachu, who was now sitting on his shoulder. Pikachu had gotten too tired of the pair of them, and could barely stay on their shoulders anyway, due to their hands constantly flying in the air.  
Pikachu sweatdropped. "Chaaa…"  
Brock just grinned. "What can we do?"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ash was sleeping horribly that night in the Pokemon Center in Viridian city. He tossed and turned ruthlessly, wavering in and out of sleep.  
Around three in the morning, Ash woke up once more. He stared for a long time at the bed across from his, his mind thinking of everything at once yet nothing at all. It was some time before he realised the bed in question was unoccupied.  
"Misty?" he said groggily, running his hands through his eternally messy hair. He looked over to the bed beside hers and saw that Brock was in his, sound asleep. He made up his mind and stood up. Stretching, he rubbed his eyes. He then grabbed the door and walked out into the silent hall, exiting out front to the balcony, wearing just his white shirt and a pair of blue-green boxers. The cool air swirled around him lightly, welcoming him into the night.  
His eyes adjusted and he saw someone was sitting on one of the little tables set out onto the balcony patio.  
"Hi, Ash," said the girl in a little voice. Misty didn't look up. She was gazing down on the city and up at the stars.

"Hey, Mist… How did you know it was me?" Ash said huskily as he pulled out a chair and sat beside her.

"I could just tell," she replied silently. The starlight and moon light lit up her face slightly, outlining her delicate features. Ash didn't even glance at the stars, which were magnificently bright that night, spilling out on the dark sky. He just continued staring at her. Nothing would compare to that beauty.  
"So… why are you out tonight?" Misty asked, frowning ever so slightly, more in wonder than anything. She had noticed him staring at her. Oddly enough, it didn't make her feel uncomfortable; it made her feel just a little shy.

"Couldn't sleep," he replied raspily. He was too tired to really notice or be bothered by the fact that Misty had realized that he was staring at her. "You?" he asked, blinking hard, trying to rid his vision of the blurriness.

"Pretty much the same reason." She stared back at Ash for a few seconds, and then quickly averted her gaze back to the stars. "It's such a nice night now, don't you think?"

"Huh?" he shook his head then turned it towards the sky. "Yeah, it is. But not like you." The words were out before he could stop them. He was too tired to think straight.  
"What?" Misty turned back to him.

"Huh? What?" Ash cleared his throat. "Uh, nothing. I just said… It's not like you to come out and miss your beauty sleep." He took an attempt at teasing her.  
"Oh shut up, Ash."  
The pair of them looked up at the stars for awhile, though they weren't really thinking of them. They kept sneaking glances at each other, each turning away when they realised the other was staring at them. After many moments of this, Misty kept her gaze when Ash looked back at her.

"Ash, I…"

"Yeah, Mist?" Ash replied nonchalantly.

"I just wanted to say that I really am happy to get to spend time with you." Misty smiled at him.

Ash was taken aback slightly, but smiled back. "Thanks. Me too. I mean it. Traveling isn't as fun if I don't get to be screamed at by you on a daily basis," he joked.

Misty laughed. "I know… It's just…" She trailed off, glancing up at the quiet stars.

"What is it?"  
"Lately I've been… thinking…"  
"About what?" Ash's heart suddenly started to pound harder than usual.

"About…" Misty was having trouble wording her sentence. "About you, I guess."  
The pounding of his heart accelerated. "What about me?"

"Well, Ash, I-" Misty started but she was abruptly cut off by yelling coming from the patio door.  
"What are you guys doing!?" Brock was standing at the door, looking dishevelled and harassed, still in his pyjamas

"Uh, talking, what's it to you?" Ash said, a tad annoyed at Brock's rather untimely butt-in.  
"I wake up and I see that you two are out of your beds. It got me worried," Brock replied, looking sternly down at the pair of them.  
"Whoa, Brock, calm down," Misty got up and walked to his side. "We were only out here. And it's not like it's the first time we've been out at night anyway. We did this when we were even younger and you never freaked," Misty said reassuringly.

"Yes, but-but," Brock stammered in his stupor. "You two could have been in trouble." His voice gained an air of authority. "Come on, get into bed."  
Ash looked weirdly at Brock, then at Misty questioningly, who just rolled her eyes. She came up to his side and whispered in his ear, "He must be having a really sentimental dream or something. I heard him whimpering in his sleep when I got up."  
The feel of Misty's breath on his ear and neck sent shivers down his spine, and he looked at her with a hint of meaning in his eyes. Misty looked back, slightly sadly, sighed, and grabbed his arm to lead him back after Brock.  
They stared at each other the whole way back to the room, both knowing exactly what Misty was going to say, and wondering when they'll finally admit it to each other.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_I know this was sort of a short chapter, but I need to have at least _something_ new up! I hope you enjoyed it. Don't worry, I'm not forgetting this fic, and I'm not having writer's block. I've just got school to deal with now. So if I don't update for a few weeks, that's why._

_:)_


	6. Chapter 6

_Here's the next chapter!_

_I've been finding some free time to write lately, FINALLY.  
So here's more to make up for the small update from last chapter._

_This chapter will focus sort of more on the relationships Ash has with his closest friends, specifically the other two girls. What you'll read in the following chapter is more or less my opinion on his type of relationship with each girl, but I think that they are pretty accurate in terms of the Anime. I've been pretty observant while I've watched it._

_:)_

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Hey Ash!_

_I'm so excited about your party tomorrow! You're going to love what I got you :)  
Anyway, I should get to your place tonight – I'm leaving Viridian city as soon as I finish this email. I decided to do a little more sightseeing before I come to your party- you know, check out some Kanto stuff I didn't get to last time I was here._

_Anyway, see you soon!_

_Love,_

_May_

_P.s. I forgot to ask you. Can Drew come? He's here doing a little sightseeing with Max and I._

Ash clicked the reply button on his email account and promptly started to type a reply. He was starting to get slightly fidgety- his party was tomorrow at noon, and some of his invitees were going to arrive just hours from now. His closest friends, like May, Max and Dawn, were all going to be staying the night at his place once they arrived, along with Misty and Brock. The others would be staying at the Pokemon Center or the local hotel.

Ash sent his email, logged off and then powered down his computer. He walked from the hall and into the spare bedrooms. There were two beds in one room, in which Misty and Brock were staying, a fold-out couch in the basement and another spare bedroom in the basement with another pair of beds. Ash frowned, calculating it all in his head. If Drew were coming with May, there wouldn't be enough room for him… unless they slept in the same bed. Ash snickered slightly as involuntary thoughts sneaked their way into his mind.  
Maybe he hadn't matured as much as everyone had hoped.

"What are you laughing about?" Misty said pleasantly as she appeared suddenly behind his shoulder.

"Uh, nothing."

"Okay then." Misty took his hand and pulled him to the basement door. Ash's mind suddenly whirled with more involuntary thoughts as this sudden and unexpected action from Misty took place. "Don't get any ideas," Misty said slyly out of the corner of her mouth, seeing the look on his face,

"Huh, what?" Ash shrugged, attempting nonchalance.

Misty just rolled her eyes and smirked. "I just thought you might want to see the basement. Your mom's gone wild."

Oh no, thought Ash. This can't be good. Please don't let there be pink, please…

He followed Misty down the wooden stairs and into his large basement. What did he see?

Pink.

Pink streamers, pink balloons…

Ash's mouth sagged open in shock. "Mom!" he yelled angrily.

"Yes honey?" came Delia's voice from the adjoining bedroom.

"What in Arceus's name have you _done_ to the place?"

Mrs. Ketchum walked into the room, holding onto to banners and tape. "I decided we needed to decorate with some colour!" Ash looked as befuddled as ever, so she continued. "Since you failed to get anything from the party shop in Pewter city, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Isn't pink such a darling colour?"

Misty smirked from beside him. She walked over to Delia and grabbed the pink streamer roll from Delia. "Would you like some help decorating, Mrs. Ketchum?" She threw an evil grin at Ash.

"Why, thank you Misty, that would be lovely!"

Ash balled his hands into fists. "Mom, I'm a guy."  
Delia replied, "Yes, I know, sweetie," while Misty said, "Are you really? That's a shocker."

Ash ignored his mothers comment and shot daggers at Misty. "I'm a guy and I'm sixteen. I shouldn't have pink decorations. Why couldn't you get like, blue or something?"

"Actually, you're fifteen, Ash. _Tomorrow_ you'll be sixteen." Misty started wrapping the streamers around a ceiling support pole.  
Ash ripped it from her grasp quickly and said sarcastically, "Glad you know how to count."

"Considering I'm seventeen, Ash, I should know how to better than you." Misty tried to get the streamer roll from him. Her attempts failed, as all Ash had to do was hold the roll above his head with his arm, being so much taller than her. Misty jumped up, trying unsuccessfully to take it from his grasp.

"So, I'm fifteen and you're seventeen, and I'm probably a foot taller than you." Ash smirked as he realized he had a decent shot at winning this battle.

Delia shook her head and sighed lovingly. "Oh, you kids," she said silently and floated up the stairs and out of the basement.

"Shut up, Ash." Misty was feisty, and wasn't the kind of girl to give up on anything. She jumped high and almost got the roll from him, but he quickly switched it to his other hand.  
"Uhg," she muttered. She clawed at it for another good twenty seconds before she resorted to jumping on Ash's back to rip it right out of his hands.

Ash wouldn't admit that he practically let go of the roll because of her jumping on his back, but he didn't want to give anything away to Misty. He felt his dignity was more important at the moment than losing this fight.

"Fine, fine, you got me." He smiled at her.

Misty blinked for a moment, evidently surprised at his easy letup. Nobody knew better than Misty that Ash was as stubborn as a Tauros around her.  
Misty shrugged on the inside, and then grinned wickedly. "Yes, I did, thank you very much."

Ash chucked the roll into the bin and started to rip down the pink streamers. "Now is the time you help me take down this trash."

Misty considered for one evil moment. "Actually, I think it adds a unique touch. It really reflects your personality, Ashy boy." With that, she ran up the stairs to the kitchen.

Ash smirked to himself and continued to rip down all the pink that had infected his party space.

* * * * * * * * *

A few hours of removing every trace of pink the basement contained, some new blue and yellow streamers added with the help of Brock and some food later, Ash flopped down onto on of the couches, exhausted. Decorating was sure an excruciating process. Everything he put up seemed lopsided, just plain wrong, or else he accidentally ripped it. He wondered vaguely how girls managed to do it, not to mention enjoy it. It was more sweat jerking than a pokemon battle against any elite four member.

"…was so funny, you should have seen the look on his face!"

"Haha, I bet!"

Two female voices floated down the stairs, on of them Misty's.  
The door suddenly banged open, and there was Misty, chatting with Dawn. Dawn was wearing a black v-neck shirt, jean shorts and pink flipflops. Her hair was up in a pony tail and her usual hair berets were in. Her face wore an excited grin and a twinkle appeared in her eyes. "Wow Ash, lazy as ever."

Ash struggled to get up from the couch. He was sprawled out all over the couch, legs wide open and arms sprawled out. He figured it wasn't the most attractive pose in the world.  
Misty rolled her eyes as Ash got up and dusted himself off.  
"Hey Dawn!" he said enthusiastically. It had only been a few weeks since he had last seen her, but he didn't realize how happy he was at seeing her again. He had grown so accustom to her presence while they traveled through Sinnoh and Johto together.  
Pikachu jumped down from the couch and onto Misty's shoulder to greet Piplup, who Misty was holding happily.  
Ash walked over to Dawn and gave her a big hug, which she gladly returned.  
Out of the corner of his eyes, Ash saw Misty glance quickly at the two of them hugging. When Ash and Dawn broke apart, Ash looked at Misty. Her brows were creased slightly in the middle but other that that she looked normal.  
He pondered for a moment why Misty would respond to a simple hug between him and Dawn like that. Could she like me more than a friend? He thought. He always knew in the back of his mind that it was a possibility. People had bugged and hinted at him for years about it. But it was weird to see Misty show signs of some sort of… jealousy.  
Not that she had any reason to be jealous. Yes, Ash did love Dawn, but definitely not in _that_ way. She was twelve and he was almost sixteen, after all.  
He had always cared for her; he always comforted and encouraged her along their travels together- but it wasn't because he had a crush on her. It was just his magnanimous personality. To him, she was like the little sister he never had, and she regarded him as an older brotherly figure. It definitely was not more than that, even though he did find Dawn attractive.

"I think someone else is here," said Misty, bringing Ash back down to Earth. Sure enough, sounds of multiple pairs of footsteps were head on the floor above their heads.  
"I hear a boy's voice," Dawn said, listening. "Actually, wait. I think are two boys. One's a lot younger, though."  
"I think I hear May," added Misty.  
"Pikaa!" Pikachu's cheeks crackled electrically with excitement.

Sure enough, a trio of people were heard heading down the stairs, two male and one female. May, Max and Drew appeared at the foot of the stairs. Ash smiled wide, happy to see his friends once again after so long.

"Ash!" May and Max yelled in unison and ran forward.

"Wow, Ash, I haven't seen you in forever!" Max smiled up at him. "When can I see your new pokemon?"  
Ash grinned. He took in Max, and was surprised to see him a lot taller than he was before. Then again, it has been almost two years since I've seen him, Ash reminded himself. Overall, Max looked the same. His hair and glasses were equivalent as ever, but his face had lost some more of its pudginess. Soon enough it would be his time to become a pokemon trainer.

Ash replied to Max then turned to May. They stared at each other for a few seconds, then raced forward and embraced each other, much like Dawn and Ash had. Ash of course, had missed May tons. The last time he saw her was at the start of his Johto travels, while May was still in the region. They met up and spent a few days together, but May had to head off to Sinnoh for her coordinating, and couldn't stay any longer unless she wanted to fall behind.  
This hug was perhaps slightly more intimate than the one Ash and Dawn has shared. Of course, it wasn't because they liked each other more than friends; May was clearly Drew's, who shot Ash a look of slight contempt as he embraced May.  
No, Ash and May didn't like each other, but it was possible that they had started to develop some small feelings towards each other while they were traveling together. They became very important to each other in those times. Ash had taught May everything she knew about Pokemon, and basically about life itself outside of her regular world. He had always been there when things got tough, making her realize that everything wasn't always going to end up fairy-tale perfect, and that she actually had to work harder than anything to reach her goals.  
For Ash, he found inside May a girl he could talk to about almost anything to. Also, she had taught him how to act around girls. She didn't teach this to him directly; them spending so much time together at that particular age made him learn quite a few important things on girls, like how to treat them.  
Though they might have liked each other at one point, it wasn't something that was meant to be. They simply just clicked like they both hadn't with any other member of their opposite sex. They were bound to be great friends and learn from each other, and that was it.

Ash and May let go and smiled widely at each other. May said, "A year going by without seeing you feel like a million!" she went back to Drew's side. "Happy Birthday, Ash!"

"I know how you feel. And nah, my Birthday's not 'til tomorrow, May. But thanks!" Ash went up to Drew and they shook hands. Once Drew's hand was free, he slipped his arm around May's waist, perhaps to show that _he_ was May's boy. Ash looked to Dawn, who shrugged slightly. She then grabbed his arm and placed him so he was really close to Misty. Misty looked at him weirdly as he bumped into her. Dawn uttered a small, "Oops!" to Misty, than started talking to May.  
Though she was younger than the rest of them, Dawn definitely was not stupid.

After everyone who didn't know each other go introduced, they all helped decorate a bit, then sat down on the couches to spend the hour before they had to get to bed to relax and catch up.  
Ash, surrounded by his best friends, relaxed more. It was the most wonderful feeling to be around some of the people who meant most to him. He had not one stress on his mind.  
Tomorrow's going sure going to be on hell of an amazing day, thought Ash with a smile on his face.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_So those are pretty much what I think about Ash with Dawn and May. Like, if you go watch episodes with Misty and at the start in Hoenn, you'll notice that he was always more immature and unsure around girls. Whereas with Dawn and later with May, he was more affectionate and stuff.  
Of course, I think with Misty it's meant to be true love ;)  
That's just me though._

_Then again, I doubt you'd be reading this if you didn't think the same :P_

_I hate it how they never hug in the anime. It's so annoying. Like, when Ash saw Misty again in Hoenn, they didn't hug. True, he was younger than, but still. Like in Sinnoh when May came to compete in the Wallace Cup, they didn't hug. Like, come on! They were some of each other's best friends. Are hugs not PG enough or something? xD_

And anyway, they're older now, so they have to be all intimate like this.

_And oh man. Whenever May and Drew come in I'll keep forgetting that this is a pokeship. I loooove writing contestships so much, that I can't help but add more into every story I write. I'm sorry if I go off and write like five paragraphs about May and Drew. I seriously can't resist. xD  
(but yeah I exaggerate a lot so don't take what I say too seriously… xD)_


	7. Chapter 7

_I think I'll just start off by saying… Croteau, I think you'll find something in this story that will REALLY amuse you ;) Teehee._

_And to everyone else, sorry again for the slow update._

_Please review if you have the time! :)_

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_Ash was having a wonderful dream. He was being chased by hundreds of attractive girls, all wanting the autograph and pictures of the 'Champion'. They swooned around him, kissing him on the cheek, wrapping him in tight hugs. Brock was in a corner, crying in jealousy. Ash grinned and turned to the girl who had him in a tight hug. She had flaming red hair.  
All of a sudden, Dawn appeared beside him, trying to peel Misty off of him. "Ash!"  
"Dawn, what do you want?" Ash got annoyed._

"_Come on, stop it," she replied grumpily, shaking his chest._

"_No, can't you see I'm-"_

"_Get UP Ash!"_

"_Stop…"_

"_Ash!"_

"ASH!"

Ash opened his eyes groggily and found himself lying in his bed. A pair of big, dark blue eyes stared down crossly at him.  
He pushed Dawn's hands lightly off his chest and turned around onto his side. The dream was too good to stop, and he was eager to recommence it.

Dawn rolled her eyes and walked around to the other side of the bed to face him. "Get up, Ash," she said, now yanking his arm, trying to drag him out. "It's your birthday! The party is going to start soon!" Dawn, being the tiny girl she was, failed epically at pulling the growing beast that was Ash from his bed. She sighed, got up onto his bed, and sat crossing her legs by his.  
"Come on, sleepy head. You've got to be up." Dawn shook him vigorously.

"No," Ash muttered stubbornly into his pillow. He peered at his alarm clock. "Why do I have to get up? It's only 9:00."

"Only 9:00?" Dawn asked incredulously. "Your party starts in three hours! You need time to get ready!"  
"How? The decorations are all up." Ash grabbed her waist and gently pushed her off the bed, easily. He threw the covers back over his head.

Dawn, not giving up, grabbed his feet that were peeking out from the end of the bed and tugged with all her might. "You have to shower! Get dressed!"  
Throwing the covers off his head angrily, Ash replied, "That would only take me 10 minutes! Let me sleep at least another hour!"

"Aw, but I wanted to straighten your hair!"

Ash froze. "What!?"

"Yeah!" Dawn hopped excitedly. "It would look so cool! Your hair would be all skater." When he didn't reply, she added, "You'd look hot."

Ash just stared at her. "You're insane." He kicked her lightly then receded under the covers once more.

Dawn sighed indignantly and marched out of her friend's room. Ash smiled victoriously, thinking he would finally gain the extra hour or two of sleep he deserved.

Was he ever wrong.

Sudden, he felt the covers ripped off him and the bed completely, exposing him in just his pink and purple boxers.

"What the hell!?" Ash turned around angrily. His face flushed as he saw Misty standing beside Dawn, who looked thoroughly satisfied.

"Nice choice of boxers, Ketchum," Misty smiled devilishly.

Ash looked down, mortified. He reached for the sheets to cover himself up, but Misty held them out of his reach. _I win again_, she mouthed.  
"These were the last clean ones I had, okay?" Ash replied defensively.

"I'm sure. Come on, you should get up. It's almost ten." Misty grabbed his hand and yanked. He couldn't resist her touch, so he went along with her pull. Dawn stared at Misty as though she was magic.  
"I guess being a gym leader gives you a lot of muscle," Dawn mused, shaking her head as she exited the room in front of Ash and Misty.

Misty smirked, smiling at Ash. She pushed him into the bathroom and threw a towel at him, which landed on his face.

"Shower," she commanded, shutting the door.

As Ash stripped down, he heard Dawn say, "Ash was so right about you."

"Ash talked about me?" Ash heard Misty's voice thick with curiosity.  
"All the time!" replied Dawn. "He never shut up about you…"

* * *

Once he was squeaky clean and dressed to Dawn's satisfaction, Ash mulled around the house aimlessly. His best friends along with Drew were already seated in the living room, talking about the big party that was only twenty minutes away. Ash, pacing in and out of the kitchen, only starting paying attention once Dawn and May started talking about what activities would be fun to play.

"... Of course there's always the classics like Truth or Dare," Dawn was saying.

"That would definitely get interesting, wouldn't it?" May replied, giggling slightly.

"Well if you want interesting in _that_ sense, that's where Spin the Bottle comes in."

"But what if you're with someone? Drew and I couldn't play."

Ash stormed into the room.  
"Spin the Bottle? What kind of party do you guys think this is, a high school house party!?"

"Of course not!" May smiled at him. "It would be fun!"  
"Especially Truth or Dare," Dawn added.

"There are a few things I'd love to ask you for Truth, Ash," said May, winking at him, and then looking at Misty obviously.

Ash glared at her. "We're not playing any stupid games like that."

"Well there's always Spin the Battle," added Brock unexpectedly from the arm chair in the corner.

"What's that?" asked Dawn curiously.

"It's like ordinary Spin the Bottle, except whoever the bottle lands in is the person you have to have a battle with," replied Brock knowledgeably.

"Is it a one on one or full party battle?" Misty asked.

"It doesn't matter, really. Usually it's just one on one, though."

"Well, I'm up for _that _kind of game," Ash said excitedly.

"Come on Ash," May raised her eyebrows at him. "We know you'd _love_ to play it the normal way, and have it land on Mi-"

"Oh look, I think I see Gary!" Ash hurriedly cut May off. He shot her daggers and walked to the door, quickly followed by Dawn.

"Gary!?" Dawn said, her eyes wide.

Ash opened the door and was surprised to see Gary accompanied by a very pretty girl. She was short with tan skin, had medium-long black hair, Asian dark browns eyes and looked distantly familiar to Ash.

"Hey, Ash!" Gary slapped his old friend on the back.  
"Hey Gary!" Ash smiled and then looked at the girl.

"This is Tiffany, I'm sure you remember her? She was in our Kindergarten class before she moved to Johto with her mom. Now she's back to live with her dad," Gary explained.

"Oh, hey! Yeah, I thought you looked familiar," said Ash amiably. He shook her hand and led them to the living room. "Er, yeah, we should probably move downstairs, there isn't much room here," Ash said as he noticed the full couches.  
Gary walked towards the basement door, opening it and letting everyone in through first. Dawn stared at him in sight awe before turning around down the stairs. Ash then noticed the way his hand was around Tiffany's waist and he suspected that they were a couple. _Well, this is sort of lonely_, thought Ash, slightly bitter. _There's May and Drew and now Gary and this girl. What if everyone else brings dates? Will I be the only single one here?_

Ash took the door from Gary and watched him and his companion walk down the stairs. He stared at Tiffany, slightly disgruntled.  
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on his left temple.

"Snap out of, Ash," said Misty, looking at him with a weird look in her eyes.  
"OWCH!" Ash glared at Misty, in half a mind to poke her sharply back in the ribs for revenge. But, he knew that wasn't gentlemanly. He wouldn't hurt a girl, least of all Misty. "Snap out of what?" he retorted, opting to verbally abuse her instead.  
"I saw you checking out Tiffany," the redhead replied, lifting her eyebrows.  
The insulting retorts that were forming at high speed in Ash's mind were completely halted. "Checking out Tiffany?"  
"That's what I said, dumbass." Misty pushed Ash down the stairs.  
He almost went trampling down the staircase, but caught himself on the ledge in time. "Jeez, Mist, calm down," he replied, turning back to her. "I wasn't checking her out."  
"You can admit it. It's okay."  
"There's nothing to admit!"  
"Then why were you staring at her?"  
"I wasn't staring at her! I was thinking! And my eyes happened to land on-"  
"Her butt?" Misty cut him off.

Ash rolled his eyes, grabbing Misty's arm. "Shut up, for once. Let's go down to the party." He dragged her arm, forcing her down the stairs.  
"ASH KETCHUM, DON'T YOU DARE… MANHANDLE ME LIKE THAT!" Misty exploded at the bottom of the stairs, ripping her arm free from his tight grasp.  
The light conversation that was taking place amongst the guests in the basement came to an abrupt halt.  
Ash didn't even notice. His eyes widened, staring at Misty apologetically. "I'm sorry, Mist, I didn't mean to grab you like that," he said, deepening his voice, trying to sound mature and reassuring. He had, indeed, grabbed her arm a little more forcefully than he had intended to.  
"Sorry?" Misty narrowed her eyes.  
Ash shrunk away towards the wall. "…Yes?" he replied timidly.  
"You ABUSE ME and all I get is a SORRY?!!?" Misty flared up again.  
"Okay, what's going? Ash abused Misty?" Drew piped up from the couch, looking around confusedly.  
"Don't take anything Misty says seriously, she's… PMS-ing right now," Ash growled out of the corner of his mouth to Drew.  
"PMS-ING? I AM NOT PMS-ING, ASH KETCHUM, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Misty turned away, and then wheeled around suddenly to face him again. "I've had ENOUGH of you." She stormed away up the stairs, leaving Ash utterly bewildered.  
He shook his head and yelled after her, "JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE FEELING JEALOUS IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO TAKE OUT ON ME LIKE A FREAKIN' FIVE-YEAR-OLD!"  
Ash, breathing hard, turned slowly towards his friends on the couch, who just stared awkwardly, open mouthed. Brock got up, rolled his eyes slightly and muttered, "I'll go after her…"  
The group stared at each other for a few more awkward seconds, until May said, "Er, why don't you come sit down, Ash?"  
Ash looked at the door for a few more seconds until the turned and sat on one of the couches where May and Dawn made room for him in between them.  
The staircase suddenly creaked as someone walked down them.  
"Let's hope she's calmed down now," said Drew quietly from beside May. Ash looked at the doorway fearfully, but he calmed down once Casey appeared.

"Ash Ketchum!?" Casey raced forward and greeted Ash, who got up once he saw here.  
"Casey! Hey! It's been way too long!"  
"What's up with Misty? She had so much steam coming out of her ears that she didn't even recognize me when I came in through the door!" Casey smiled slightly as she shook her head.  
"She's PSM-ing," piped up Max, who had remained silent during the entire incident.  
Casey laughed, slightly confused as she took a seat.  
"That's what Ash said. She's PSM-ing. May, what does PSM-ing me?" Max looked to his older sister curiously.  
May shifted uncomfortably. "It's PMS, Max, not PSM, and we'll talk about it later," she said quickly.  
"But May!" Max whined. "You never tell me these things! Why don't you tell me now?"  
"Because now is not the time, Max," May said, getting slightly annoyed.  
"But MAY!" persisted Max.  
Ash, not really in the mood for hearing the 'facts of life' talk again, quickly got up and mumbled incoherently about checking on Misty. He raced up the stairs, realising he might have made a mistake. Between enraged Misty and the facts of life talk, he'd choose the facts of life. But then again, this would be an excuse to-  
"WATCH OUT!"  
Ash's thoughts were cut off as he collided rather painfully with something, or rather, someone. A head of blonde hair obscured his view.  
"Jeez, Ash, where are you in a hurry to get to?" Barry straightened up into his tall form, shaking out his hair. Ash noticed he was wearing his usual traveling outfit but holding a humungous wrapped box.  
"I might ask you the same thing," Ash replied, scratching his head. "Is that for me?" he asked his friend, indicating the large box.  
"You bet! You're going to just love what I got you, Ash!" Barry set the gift down by the other presents, which looked small and sad in comparison.  
"Uh, everyone's downstairs, so I'll just meet you there." Ash smiled.  
"Alrighty!" Barry headed down to the basement, leaving Ash in search of Misty.

It wasn't a hard search; Ash just followed the soothing voice of Brock that ended up coming from Ash's room. When Ash entered, he found Misty on his bed, crying. Brock was beside her rubbing her back and speaking calmly and reassuringly to her. Jealously suddenly erupted in the pit of Ash's stomach and he felt like going to Brock and ripping his hands off Misty. But, Ash had self control so he remained where he was. He acknowledged his presence by clearing his throat awkwardly.  
When Brock saw Ash, he immediately removed his hands from Misty's back. Brock said something quietly into Misty's ear before exiting the room. As he did so, he gave Ash a very significant look. He muttered quietly, "I think she actually IS PMS-ing."

Ash looked closed the door behind Brock and walked up to Misty. He sat down beside her. Misty's face was in the opposite direction, so he couldn't see it. He heard her snuffling, which made him believe that she was still crying.  
Ash slowly and tentatively lifted his left arm to put it around her shoulders. His hand hovered inches over her back for a few seconds, until he chickened out and returned it to his side. He scolded himself mentally for being so yellow, and opted instead to speak to her.  
"Mist?" he moved his head around to see her face, but Misty just turned away more.  
"Mist, what's wrong?" Ash's arm twitched and fidgeted, it wanting to touch and hold Misty more than anything. He wouldn't; he couldn't. He was a coward and he knew it. There had been a million opportunities in his life to tell Misty how he felt about her, but each time he could never bring himself to do it. There had been many times where all he had to do was grab her hand or kiss her on the cheek and everything would be resolved; there would be no need for words. Ash felt that this moment was one of them. But, he was Ash Ketchum. He could face a deathly hoard of Gyarados single handed with confidence, while the simple thought of telling Misty how he felt made him sweat a gallon.  
"Misty?" Ash repeated, concern ridden in his voice.  
"What do you want, Ash?" Misty said silently from behind a curtain of hair, which was out of its usual side ponytail, fanning out down her back.  
"I want to see if you're okay, and what's wrong."  
Misty remained silent.  
_Do it. Do it. Come on Ash, do it. _Ash was fighting a raging battle in the back of his head. _Come on, Ketchum. Just take her hand. That's all there is to it. _But was it? What would happen, if he took Misty's hand in his? Would she squeeze his hand back and smile at him, or would she rip it back and yell at him? In so many ways, Misty was extremely predictable… yet not predictable at all.  
_Do it, Ash. Do it.  
_I can't, he told the little voice furiously. I'm a chicken. I can't do this. There's no way in hell I can do this.  
_Yes, you can. You can do it. You're sixteen, for Arceus' sake. Be the man that you are.  
_I'm not a man. I'm a boy. A little, terrified boy, with as much guts as I had when I was ten. I can't do it.

Misty was watching Ash out of the corner of her eye. She saw him flex his hand and the deepening crease in between his brows. She knew; she knew he wanted to hold her. But would he do it? Did he love her enough to do it?

Five more minutes passed.

Ash stood up and said, stuttering, that he supposed they ought to head back downstairs.

_I guess not_, thought Misty.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Anyone have any suggestions for the party?  
I don't really know what I'm going to do for it, so all suggestions are welcome and appreciated :)  
But don't worry, I pretty much know what's going to happen with out favourite couple here… ;) _


	8. Chapter 8

_I'm going to start off by saying that I'm sorry if there are mistakes in my writing. I tend to do a lot of typos that my spell checker doesn't pick up on. I try my best to reread them and fix my mistakes.  
Eventually I'm going to rewrite my fics (not majorly- just read them over and add stuff here and there, fix some grammar, etc). I'm going to start by rewriting _The Birthday he Drew_ (my first May-Dr_ew)_, because that was one of my first fics and I don't think my writing is the best there._

_* * *_

"Okay, so all you have to do is spin the bottle. Whoever it lands on is the person you have to kiss. The person who was just kissed is the person who spins the bottle next. Everyone got it?"  
Casey looked around at everyone seated in the circle on the carpeted basement floor. Some looked excited; other looked apprehensive or nervous. Ash, on the other hand, was praying that the bottle landed only on one specific redhead. As much as he liked some of the other girls like Angie and Anabel, he could never imagine himself kissing them, let alone them being his first kiss.

"Okay, so who wants to start?" Casey looked carefully at each persons face. All of them were avoiding eye contact.

Casey sighed. "Okay. I'll spin it, and whoever it lands on has to spin it."

She spun the beer bottle (which was drunk by Gary) and it spun around and around, finally slowing down. It slowed down right at Morrison, who held his breath, but he exhaled in relief when it landed on the person seated to his left. It was Ritchie.

"Okay Ritchie, you have to spin!" said Dawn from Ash's right.

Ritchie gulped slightly and carefully spun the bottle. Around and around it spun, until finally, it landed on-

"Me?" said Barry incredulously. "No-o-o way man."

"Well of course not," said Casey impatiently. "If it lands on someone the same gender as you, you spin again."

"Here goes nothing," said Ritchie as he spun the bottle for the second time.

Around and around it went, until finally, it landed on Anabel, who immediately blushed.

"Okay, rules are rules. You have to kiss Anabel, Ritchie," announced Casey, pointing out the obvious.

The Ritchie edged himself nearer to Anabel, who was two people away from him. The two leant in closer, closer, and closer, until-

"Wait!" May's voice cut through unexpectedly. The two abruptly backed away from each other.

"What?" asked Casey frustratingly. It was obvious she thought May had ruined the perfect moment and atmosphere.

"Max has to leave," said May, turning towards her brother.

"Why?" Max immediately retorted.

"Because… this game is too old for you."

"But I'm ten, May! You're only three years older than me!"

"A few years can make a big difference. Now go upstairs, Max."

Ash looked towards the siblings. "Hey, come on May, that's not fair. If Max can't play, we all shouldn't." If Ash were to be honest, he wasn't really into the game.

"May, come on!" Max started to whine.

"Hey Max, May and I will go with you. We can't play anyway," said Drew, getting to his feet and pulling Max up. May smiled at him gratefully.

"I think Tiffany and I will come too," said Gary, smiling at Max.

The five of them left up the stairs, the two couples holding hands.

"Man, I feel bad," Ash muttered to Dawn. "I want to do things everyone will have fun with. I hate leaving people out."

"Nah, no need to worry, Ash! We'll just play for a bit." Dawn poked him playfully and then turned towards Ritchie. "I believe we have something to continue on with?"

The game continued on for about ten more minutes. Many awkward and funny things had happened. Some people had bumped noses while trying to kiss while others blushed really obviously. Barry had just kissed Dawn cutely on the cheek (those who had never had their first kiss decided to just peck on the check) and now it was her turn to spin.

"Okay… here goes nothing!" She spun the bottle and stared at it spinning, biting her lip slightly.

It slowed down, passing Morrison, Misty, Brock, Casey, Todd, almost stopping on Dawn herself… until it rested in between Ash and Tracey.

"Who is it pointing to?" Misty asked quickly.

"Umm, I don't know…" Dawn trailed away.

Morrison peered closely at the bottle. "I think it's closer to Ash by half an inch."

"Yeah, I think your right," put in Casey. She walked up in between Ash and Tracey and bent down. "Yup, definitely Ash. Dawn, you have to kiss Ash."

Ash, who had not yet had the bottle land on him, gulped. Secretly he felt glad that out of all the girls that it could have landed on, it was Dawn

"Just… a friendly kiss," said Casey encouragingly, winking suggestively.

"We definitely don't think of each other than anything more," commented Dawn as she leaned in. Ash took a deep breath and angled his cheek towards the blue haired girl. He was slightly apprehensive; he had never been kissed on the cheek since Melody did a few years back. And of course, his mother had. But she didn't count.  
Okay, it's just Dawn, calm down, Ash told himself firmly. But Ash knew in the back of his mind it didn't really have much to do with who was kissing him. He shot a quick glance at Misty before leaning in to Dawn.

Dawn put her small, soft hand on his neck below his ear and slowly planted a soft kiss on his cheek. Ash felt tiny shivers run down his spine.

Dawn smiled slightly awkwardly at him and then laughed, and soon Ash joined in. It was a normal kiss, yet quite strange.

Ash glanced at Misty out of the corner of his eye and saw that she had a peculiar yet unreadable expression on her face.

"Okay Ash, spin!" commanded Casey.

Ash reached for the bottle and twirled it, sending it spinning around dizzyingly. He looked at all of the possible candidates and fidgeted nervously.

And who did it land on?

Misty, of course.

Once Misty realised the bottle was pointing towards her, her eyes widened in shock. Ash and Misty just stared at each other, so many thoughts rushing through their heads.  
The people in the circle looked to each other questioningly. They noticed the tension that had suddenly sprung between ravenhaired and redhead.

"Soo… are you going to kiss her, Ash?" Casey finally broke the silence.

Ash took a deep breath and walked over to Misty. He sat down beside her and they just stared at each other some more. Ash shrugged slightly to Misty in question. She bit her lip and then nodded a small nod that only he would see.

He leaned in closer.

She leaned in closer.

Their faces were about six inches apart now. Ash could smell the flowery scent of her skin and could feel her quick breaths on his lips.

Closer.

Closer.

They were inches apart now, staring deep into each others eyes.

Closer.

The silence and tension in the room was unbearable.

Ash leaned into her lips, closer…

Closer…

Almost touching…

Closer…

Then…

"Spin the bottle? What kind of party is this!?"

Ash ripped his head away from Misty at lightning speed. Him and all of the guests looked towards the door, eager to see who had interrupted this intense moment.

Who was it?

Paul.

He stormed into the room, scowling down at the people sitting in the circle. He flipped his purple hair out of his eyes and glared down at Ash.

"Uh… Paul?" Ash was flummoxed. "Why are you here?" Ash hadn't invited Paul. He had thought about it, of course, but he didn't want someone's constant bad attitude to ruin the party.

Paul just jeered down at Ash some more until Delia appeared beside him.

"Uh, mom?" Ash asked, looking questioningly at Paul.

"Yes honey? And why are you guys all sitting around a beer bottle? You know, you shouldn't be drinking if you are under age, Ash. Didn't I teach you better?" Delia blinked her big eyes obliviously.

"Uh, no reason," Ash swallowed. "Mom… Paul?"

"Oh! Yes, I invited him. I thought it was a mistake that you forgot to invite your dear friend and rival Paul so I sent an invitation for you!" Delia smiled down at her son, expecting a big thank you, at the least.

"Uh… Okay. Yeah, um, thanks mom!" Ash forced a smile and his mother back up into the kitchen.

"Remember, no drinking, kids!" Delia said as she shut the door.

Ash turned around to the group apologetically. Paul was still scowling, sitting off to the right of the group on the arm of one of the couches.  
"Really, guys? You have nothing better to do than play some preschool spin the bottle?" he asked.

The group remained silent.

He continued. "Kissing on the cheek is for chickens. If you're going to play it, play it _normally_."

Dawn said, "Aw, Paul, lighten up! How about you join us?", while Casey, clearly affronted, said, "Well if you have such a problem with it, then why don't you leave?"

Paul sneered at Dawn and then turned to Casey. "Aren't you that girl who came fourth in the Hoenn league a few months back?"

Casey blushed slightly under his intense gaze but held it. "Yes, I am."

Paul laughed. "You lost an easy battle. If your Meganium fired that solarbeam a little more to the left then you would have won. Any trainer could have seen that."

Casey blushed deeper. "You're one to talk. I see you haven't won a league yet either," she shot back.

"Hey, guys, calm down. If you're going to fight, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," said Ash, glaring at Paul.

Dawn got up and went in front of Paul. "This is a party! We're here to have fun, no to insult each other!" she said optimistically. "Come sit with us, and lighten up!" she smiled at him, obviously thinking she could change his attitude.

"I think I'll just sit here and observe for awhile. This should be highly amusing." Paul stared at Dawn.

"Er… Okay, whatever makes you happy!" Dawn frowned and then bounded back beside Ash.

The group remained in silence for twenty seconds until Ash broke the silence. "Uh, I don't think we should play this anymore. I-It's not going anywhere anymore…"

The group just stared so Dawn broke the silence. "He's right. Plus, we don't want his mom walking in on us like this."

"Good idea," said Brock. "How about we take this party outside?"

"That sounds great," said Ash, relieved.

The group traipsed to the door. Ash and Misty glanced at each other, wondering what would have happened if Paul hadn't shown up at that exact moment.

Dawn walked with Ash up the stairs and out into the kitchen. "You're lucky Paul came in when he did," she said, whispering.

Ash glanced at her questioningly.

"I don't think it would have gone over too well if you guys had your first kiss because of a _game_," Dawn replied into his ear.

Ash blushed. "I-I..." Ash searched in his head for an excuse but came up blank. "I know. But I can't do it at a normal time. I just can't…" he trailed off, looking at the back of Misty's head.

"Yes, you can. And you're going to do it today," Dawn ordered.

"No, I… can't."

"It's going to happen today."


	9. Chapter 9

The party resumed as most normal parties do. Everyone was enjoying themselves chatting and eating chips and cake. All of the guest's pokemon were out of their balls and running around the yard or else snoozing in the afternoon sun.  
Ash, on the other hand, was watching a particularly fierce battle between Barry and Angie. Most of the gang was having a lot more fun playing Spin the Battle then they were Spin the bottle.

"Come on Heracross, you can do it!" yelled Barry as he encouraged his pokemon.

"Dodge it, Luxio, then use spark!"

Angie's Luxio, which had recent evolved from Shinx, just narrowly missed Barrie's Heracross's double-edge. It was suddenly coated in crackling electricity and went barreling into Heracross, sending it flying half way across the yard.

"Get up Heracross! Quickly!" Barrie encouraged.

"Crunch, Luxio! Get this and I think that's a win for us!" Angie smirked, determined.

"Arg," muttered Barrie. "It's our only chance…" he said under his breath. Then, he bellowed, "Heracross, Close Combat!"

Heracross zoomed at full speed and attacked Luxio with a loud bang. Once the dust settled, it was clear who one the battle.

Brock, who was refereeing, raised his left hand. "Luxio is unable to battle. The winner is Barry and his Heracross!"

"Alright, we did it!" yelled Barry as he high fived his Heracross. "Alright, so who wants to spin next?"

May walked up to the circle that had formed in the grass. "How about Ash spins? It's his birthday and I'm sure he wants to battle!"

Ash looked up. "Yeah, that'd be cool!"

He took the bottle and gave it a flick. It went around and around for ten seconds until it landed on Max.

Ash was about to spin again when Max interrupted him. "Hey, aren't we supposed to battle?"

"But you don't have any pokemon, Max," replied Ash.

"Yeah, I do! I turned ten last week and I got my first pokemon from Professor Birch! Here, look!" Max reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny red pokeball. He threw it into the air and a red light spilled out from it. Once it cleared, Ash saw a small Treeko. Once it saw everyone looking down on it, it immediately scurried to Max's leg.

"Wow, cool Max! I didn't know you got a pokemon!" Ash smiled at him and bent down to look at Treeko, who was peering shyly from behind Max's leg.

"Yeah!" Max smiled proudly down at Treeko. He picked it up.

"Have you battled yet?" Ash asked Max.

"No," Max looked down. "I kind of wanted to ask you if you would be me and my Treeko's first battle," he mumbled shyly.

"Of course we will!" Ash smiled. "Should we start now?"

Max looked around, seemingly searching for someone. "Well, I want May to be here to see my first battle," he said shyly.

"Alright. I don't see her out here though…" Ash peered around the yard.

"Are you looking for someone?" Misty came up to him.

"Yeah, I'm looking for May. Max wants her there to see his first battle with me," Ash explained.

"I think I saw her and Drew head into the house, actually," the redhead replied. "Why don't we go look?"

"Good idea," agreed Ash.

The pair of them entered the kitchen through the patio door. Ash noticed a bowl of popcorn sitting on the table so he grabbed two large handfuls and shoved them in his mouth and proceeded to walk up the stairs. He heard Misty make a noise of disgust from behind him. He smirked to himself.  
"You pig," she muttered as she gave him a little shove in the small of his back to make him hurry up the stairs.

"Jeez, Mist, you're going to make me choke," he shot at her, bits of popcorn flying out of his mouth.

"Ew, gross Ash! That landed on my shirt!" Misty looked down at her bright blue tank top.

"Oh, sorry, let me get that for you," replied Ash as he reached forward to brush the bit of spitty popcorn off of the girl's shirt. His hand was almost on her until he realized where it was located. Her chest. He jerked his hand back. "Uh, sorry about that," Ash said quickly, cringing.

Misty walked into the bathroom and took some toilet paper to wipe it off herself. She glared at him and muttered something that sounded distinctly like, "Perv."

Ash just rolled his eyes and checked into the first spare bedroom, then his room. Misty walked up to him. "I checked downstairs, they aren't there either."

Ash was about to reply, but he heard giggling coming from the room they hadn't checked. The two looked at each other and then Misty opened the door.

Ash suddenly wished they hadn't. On the bed, May was on top of Drew and they were kissing fiercely. One of Drew's hands was on May's waist and the other was in her hair. May's hands were caressing Drew's face and neck lovingly. They looked really, _really_ busy to Ash.  
"What the-" Ash said as soon as he saw the two.

May flew off of Drew at the speed of light. She put a hand to her mouth quickly to wipe it and Drew sat up slowly, looking rather pleased.

All four of them just stared at each other.

Ash backed away slowly. "Er, uh, sorry to have uh, bothered you two, we'll just, uh, go now." He blinked rather hard and started to walk out of the room.

Misty grabbed his arm and yanked him back in. "Sorry to interrupt you two, but May, Max was looking for you." Misty kept her face normal.

Running a hand through her hair, May replied, "Er, okay. I'm coming. Sorry about… This," May said to Ash and Misty.

Misty grabbed Ash's arm and led him out of the room. Ash was in a daze. It was really strange seeing one of his best friends like that. May had always seemed sort of… innocent to him. To see her so intense with Drew made him embarrassed beyond words.

He and Misty continued out into the yard. He was still thinking about May on top of Drew. But suddenly, the people changed. He was picture _Misty_ on top of _him_, kissing him, her soft hands wrapped around his neck, his on her waist.  
Ash shook his head and glanced at the redhead in question beside him. He blushed bright red.

Misty walked ahead of him, opened the sliding door and out into the fresh air. She looked back at him for a few seconds.  
She had a faint pink tinge on the apples of her delicate cheeks.

* * *

"… And then, wham! The Tyranitar slammed my Metagross to the ground. I knew it was all over," Morrison said as he munched on some pretzels. He was just telling Ash about that battle that put him out of the running for the Kanto League champion title that took place a month back. Ash, of course, had saw it on TV but wanted the story from Morrison's point of view.

"Now Ash, I can't believe you didn't win the Sinnoh League!" Morrison said, shoving handful of pretzels into his mouth. "You were so close! Second place, dude!"

"Yeah," piped in Max, who was sitting with them. He was nursing his Treeko, who Ash had just beaten with his Bulbasaur (who volunteered to battle-gently). Ash had gone easy on him, but had still won. Max was slightly upset at first, but Ash told him stories about his first battles and how no one every wins. After that he was brimming with excitement.

"Hey Ash, let's battle!" Anabel came up to him, grinning.

After an intense battle, in which he won, Ash flopped to the ground at Brock and Misty's feet.

"Losing your touch, are we Ash?" said Misty as Ash rolled onto his stomach, moaning.

"No," he mumbled into the grass defensively. "Three pieces of cake, some chips, fruit punch and an intense battle don't go very well together."

Misty held out her hand for him to grab to help him up. He took her hand and she yanked him up with surprising force.

"I see you haven't lost yours," he whispered into her ear. He felt her shiver slightly.

The trio continued chattering for awhile. But they stopped as soon as May and Drew started kissing, plain as day, in front of the whole crowd.

Misty and Ash stared at the pair of them for a second or two until looking at each other embarrassedly. They blushed and Misty bit her lip, still looking at Ash.

Ash realized that the whole yard was silent. May and Drew broke apart, and looked around.

"What?" May asked. She looked around and noticed everyone staring at her.

Someone wolf-whistled.

May and Dawn and Misty all looked at each other and burst out laughing. Ash just stared at them, gobsmacked. He never would understand the strange ways of girls.

Brock, who was clearly enjoying himself, said, "Hey Ash, Misty. That will be you two soon enough."

The idle chatter that had started up ceased. All looked to Ash and Misty, waiting for their reactions.

Ash felt the bright red blush creep up on his cheeks. Oh no, he thought.  
"Brock! Uhg, never. Gross," he lied, looking away. In times like these, he couldn't find any other defense than being completely immature.

Misty, who had also blushed a bright scarlet, whipped out her mallet and whammed Brock across the head. "DON'T YOU _EVER_ SAY THAT AGAIN," she screamed.

"Hey look, Misty's blushing!" someone teased.

"Yeah, look at Ash's face!" Casey added.

Everyone in the crowd started to laugh, causing Ash's burning face to explode in a volcano-like fashion.

Dawn took pity. "Aw, come on guys!" she said, walking over to Ash's side. "This is Ash's Birthday party, don't make him feel embarrassed!"

"I'M NOT EMBARRASSED DAWN, SHUT UP!" Ash yelled defensively and immaturely. Dawn just laughed and gave him a friendly hug. "It's okay," she said, giggling.

Ash frowned at her. "Did you drink or something, Dawn?"

"Hahaha, no," she replied, still giggling. "I'm just…"

"Hyper?" Ash suggested.

"Yes. Too much candy." She walked off towards May, still giggling.

* * *

Ash sat down in one of the chairs, a gloomy mood setting down over him. He was too confused with the whole Misty thing, and mad at himself for acting like such an immature coward. Why couldn't he do the things he wanted to do so badly? Why, after finally growing up and learning how to be mature towards girls, did he basically throw it all away when he was around Misty? Why did things always have to go wrong around her?

"What's up, Ash?"

Ash looked up and found himself staring up into two pairs of blue eyes. Dawn and May peered down at him, concerned.

"Uh, nothing," he said, attempting to smile. "Just sitting here. The-I was getting tired so I wanted to sit down."

May rolled her eyes slightly. "Come on Ash," she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to a more secluded corner of the yard.

"What's this all about?" he asked the two girls.

"Nothing in particular. You look sad so we want to know what's wrong!" replied May. She looked at him expectantly.

"Nothing's wrong," he replied quickly.

"We know there is, so don't try to hide it," said Dawn.  
May said, "Yeah yeah, we know you're a guy and don't like to talk about your true feelings. But it's us; you know we can be trusted."

May was right. Ash knew that if anyone could get anything out of him it was May.

"I-well… I dunno… It's like… I've been feeling like… Dunno, like…I dunno" Ash struggled to put his feelings into words.

"Like you don't know how and what to do about Misty," Dawn offered.

Ash blinked in surprise. "Yeah, that's exactly it," he replied.

"You need to talk to her, Ash," May sat down beside him. "If I didn't talk to Drew about how we were, then we wouldn't be the way were are now. We would have been fighting and the drama would have continued forever. Now we're happy."

"Yeah, but it's hard," Ash admitted. "And everyone won't stop teasing, which-"

"Makes it worse," May finished for him.

"Yeah," Ash said.

"Aw, no need to worry Ash, we'll make this party fun again!" Dawn's bright smile covered her face.

"Yeah, we'll make sure no one embarrasses you about Misty," May concluded.

Ash looked back, skeptical. "You're one to talk! Macking Drew left, right and center!" he replied incredulously.

May blushed slightly but didn't look away. "Well, some things can't be helped," she said nonchalantly, winking and shrugging at the same time.

"Yeah, whatever," he replied, disgruntled.

"Just talk to her, Ash," Dawn patted his shoulder consolingly. "That's all there is to it."

But Ash thought that little did Dawn know, there was much, _much_ more to it than that.


	10. Chapter 10

_I've taken longer to update then usual, I'm sorry. I've been sick with mono so I was extremely tired and didn't feel up to writing. There's so much work I have to catch up on from missing school. Luckily I'm feeling a lot better (some people get this for over a month- yikes!) but I'm still really tired a lot so I won't be updating fast like I used to._

_Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! Please review if you have the time! :D_

_And thanks for the support everyone! You guys make me smile every day :)_

* * * * *

"Pikaaa…" Pikachu sat at one of the tables that ran the long of the Ketchum's back yard. Surrounded by bowls filled with assorted snacks like chips and pretzels and plates with slices of cake, Pikachu was hardly noticeable. The contents of the bowls were slowly dwindling as the guests munched away happily throughout the night. Pikachu was no exception to that. It moaned from the top of the table, rubbing its stomach. Its eyes were glazed over and its ears drooped.

"Hey Ash, what's the matter with Pikachu?" Gary asked, eying Pikachu worriedly as he took a sip from his red plastic cup.

Ash stopped mid-chew and turned towards the table where Gary was sitting with Tiffany, Morrison and Barry. His eyes traveled to where Gary was pointing.

"Chaaa…" Pikachu moaned, looking at Ash.

Ash walked over to Pikachu, picked it up and examined it. "What the matter, buddy?"

"I think it had too much cake," Tiffany observed. It did look plausible; Pikachu was rubbing its unusually large stomach and had a strange green tinge to its usually vibrant yellow cheeks.

"I think you've had enough to eat," Ash noted as he carried Pikachu into the house. "We need to keep you away from those chips." He found his mother sitting on the couch in the living room talking to Professor Oak.

"Hi, Professor Oak. Hey, mom?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Would you look after Pikachu for a bit? I think it had too much to eat."

"Of course, anything for my darling sweetheart Pikachu!" Delia smiled lovingly at Pikachu and took it from her son's arms. Ash smiled at her and Professor Oak and then walked back out into the yard, grabbing another handful of popcorn out the door.

"Be careful how much you eat sweetie, or else you'll end up like Pikachu!" Delia teased from the adjoining room.  
Ash grinned and shut the patio door behind him.

He stared out at the party, contemplating on who to mingle with next. The sun was starting to set in the western sky, shooting the sky with streaks of gold. Ash wanted to get in as much more enjoyment as he could with everyone before the party was over, which would only be in under a few hours.

He was just about to go watch the blazing battle that was going on between Ritchie and Tracey, but he changed his mind when he spotted Paul taking to Misty, a suspiciously condescending and satisfying look on his face. Ash knew that whatever gave Paul that look couldn't be good.  
He walked over to them slowly, his straining to hear what Paul was saying.

"…a real disappointment," Paul was saying, his arms crossed. "I had heard that the Cerulean gym was a good tough challenge, but I evidently those who told me were puny and even weaker than you are."

Ash suddenly balled his hands into fists. Of course, Ash thought angrily. He was insulting her. What did he expect from Paul?

Shock flitted across Misty's face for a split second, but she regained her composure with an icy look. She remained silent.

Paul carried on. "It was almost a waste of my time, that gym battle. I could have won that Cascadebage in my sleep."

Misty couldn't help herself. She was starting to look really ticked. "Yeah, so you won. You don't have to go bragging about it for ten million years," she retorted as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not bragging. I'm giving you advice. All I'm saying is you need to start acting like a real gym leader," Paul spat. "No leader is that weak. You're pathetic."

That's it, thought Ash. He's crossing the line.  
Ash marched over to where the pair were standing and went up in Paul's face. "What's your problem?" he demanded.

Paul didn't flinch. "I don't have one. I'm informing your little girlfriend here that _she_ has a problem."

"She does not! You shut up about her, okay Paul?" Ash snapped, livid.

"You can't make me do anything," Paul retorted maliciously.

"Just watch me," Ash growled, his voice low.

Misty put her hand on his chest as he started forward towards Paul. "Stay out of this, Ash," she warned, her eyes flashing.

"No!_ No one_-_can-insult-you-like-that_," he said stiffly, panting as he struggled against Misty's arm.

Paul continued on, obviously enjoying the situation. "Now I _would_ have expected a weakling of a gym leader if I knew that Misty was friends with _you_, Ash."

Ash gave up struggling and stood there, glaring daggers at Paul. "Misty isn't a weakling. And neither am I," he retorted defensively.

"Why would she have used a Goldeen against my Grotle? It's obvious she should have used her Gyarados. Then my Grotle's grass type moves wouldn't have been so effective. Even a two year old could spot that," Paul spat at Misty.

Misty cowered slightly under Paul's intense gaze. She stared back haughtily but Ash could tell that she was hurting on the inside.

"I've never battled someone so weak in my entire life," Paul didn't show any signs up letting up his string of insults. "It was absolutely pathetic, the way she battled. She's a puny, little-"

"SHUT UP!!!"

The entire yard went silent.

Ash looked around at the faces staring at him and he blushed slightly. But he couldn't have taken it anymore; his anger was a bomb and Paul powered it up and set it off. Ash couldn't let Paul throw all those malicious things at Misty anymore. He just couldn't. So he had no other choice but to explode on him.

"How pathetic," Paul said brutally, sneering, breaking the tense silence that formed.

"I'll tell you what's pathetic," Ash walked straight up to Paul. "You having to insult every single person you see!" Paul was about to retort but Ash continued on, interrupting him. "It's pathetic that you have to make yourself feel better by insulting everyone around you because you're so INSECURE. _You're_ just pathetic Paul, and I'm sorry. I'm really, so sorry that you're such a low, insecure little DICK!"  
Ash finished, shaking in rage and breathing hard. He glared daggers at Paul, daring him to say anything.

The crowd stared at shock at Ash's sudden, out of character outburst. Ash wasn't the type to say mean things to people, even when people were saying mean things to him. He always tried to be the better person, and usually was. But this time was his breaking point. He wasn't going to put up with anyone's crap anymore, especially Paul's.

The tense atmosphere in the yard was still present. No one wanted to break the silence, afraid of getting called on. No one except Casey.

"Alright guys, knock it off," she appeared between the two boys. She glared at Paul. Casey had taken an intense disliking to him from the moment he opened his mouth. "This is a party and you're completely ruining it," she said fiercely.

Dawn bounced over to her side. "Come on Ash, Paul! No need to fight!" She went in front of Paul. "That wasn't nice at all what you were saying Paul. I think you should apologize to Ash!" she demanded.

Paul glared down at her. "I'm not going to apologize to anyone. I didn't do anything wrong," he said, monotone.

"YOU-" Ash started to yell but Dawn cut him off. "Just apologize, and then cheer up! Come on Paul, have fun for once!" Dawn smiled optimistically.

Casey disregarded what Dawn said and continued to glare at Paul. "I think you should leave, Paul, right Ash?"

Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He opened his eyes and looked steely at Paul. "That's a good idea, Casey."

"Fine! It's not like I wanted to be at this stupid party in the first place." Paul spat on the ground at their feet and stormed to the front gate, slamming it shut with a loud bang.

Everyone was silence once again. May came up to Ash and whispered into his ear, "What was that all about?"

Everyone looked at him, waiting for his answer.

He shook his head to clear it. "Okay guys, it was nothing, it was nothing. Let's just… forget that happened."

The guests looked at him doubtfully then started chatting excitedly about what they had just witnessed. Ash sank into a seat and breathed deeply some more.

"Ash, are you alright?" May sat down beside him, concern in her beautiful cerulean eyes. She knew he wasn't acting normal.

"I'm fine," Ash said, not only trying to convince her but to convince himself, as well. But there was only one person he was truly concerned for.  
He looked around for this redhead but she was nowhere to be seen.

* * * * *

_Ash's outburst was a little OOC, I know, but keep in mind that he's a 16 year old boy with raging hormones._


	11. Chapter 11

_Okay, so I've been really dumb and decided to neglect my mountains of homework for writing, because that's honestly what I feel like doing. So here's another chapter!  
I think you all will like what you're about to read ;)_

_Review review! :D_

* * *

Ash couldn't take May staring at him so concernedly anymore, and he was pretty sure she was itching to go back to Drew, but felt obligated to stay with him until he felt better. So, he stood up and muttered nonchalantly about going to find Misty.

May grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him back. "Hold it, mister."

"What?"

"Make sure you comfort her when you talk to her, don't just sit there and gape like a moron," May instructed.

"Yeah, hold her hand or rub her back or something," Dawn added, insinuating herself into the conversation from nowhere.

"I'm not five years old," Ash muttered, glaring because he knew they were right. "I know what to do."

"Then do it! Don't chicken out, Ash." May said.

Dawn added, "We know you can do it. We believe in you!"

"You've done a lot of great things, Ash. This should be nothing compared to what you've done!" May winked at him amiably.

Ash gulped rather loudly. Little did his two friends know that this was harder than reasoning with an angry, ferocious Mewtwo, more stressful than saving whole kingdoms, more difficult than winning the Battle Frontier…  
In the face of danger, no one was braver than Ash Ketchum. But what Ash felt the girls didn't understand was that love was definitely no danger- it was the exact opposite. It was bigger and better. But that also meant harder as well.  
If only he could channel his inconceivable amounts of courage in a different direction, maybe he'd have a shot at succeeding. Ash knew he was a truly gifted and talented trainer, but was that it? Did the line stop there? And could loving be a talent? Or was it something different entirely?  
But anyone who knew Ash Ketchum would say that if loving was a talent, he would be the master. Of all trainers everyone ever knew, Ash was the one who had the most love and most passion for his pokemon. Perhaps that's what drove his pure talent as a trainer- love.  
That's what set him apart and made him so much greater than trainers like Paul. Paul was definitely strong- there was no mistaking that. He has all the same badges as Ash, who can't even seem to beat him in battle. But what set these two trainers apart was the fact of love; Ash loved his pokemon like family whereas with Paul, his pokemon were tools to be used to get him to the top. Maybe it was an immaturity thing he'd grow out of, or perhaps he just had an incurable cold, black heart. But what one does know is that Ash's heart was purer than gold, and when it came to love, he could accomplish anything.  
But Ash didn't quite understand that yet.

"You're going to be fine," May smiled as she gave him a little encouraging hug, reading the confusion and frustration on his face.

"Don't worry Ash. You're braver than anyone I know." Dawn gave Ash's hand a little squeeze.

"You can do it. And don't worry about the party, Dawn and I will keep everyone entertained," May added.

"Yes we will," Dawn winked at Ash.

"Now go get her, tiger," May gave Ash a little nudge, linked her arm through Dawn's and they walked away.

"Tiger?" Ash cocked his head in confusion. He shook it off and took a few deep breaths to try and calm the fluttery feeling in his stomach that made him want to throw up. He went over in his head what May and Dawn had said and then felt new determination rise up. _I can do this; I can do anything_!

Ash walked into the house and straight into his room, where he knew Misty would be waiting.

* * *

Ash pushed every thought out of his mind and decided that he wouldn't over think it. He would just let his instincts and heart take over and not worry about what to say and what do to.  
He opened the door slowly, smiling to himself as he saw bright orange hair.

"Hey, Mist," he said, his voice husky. This surprised him, as he half expected his voice to rise in pitch due to nervousness. _Okay, shut up_, he told himself fiercely. _Stop thinking_.

Misty looked up at him, her expression unreadable. "Hi."

Ash walked over to his bed, plopped himself on it and lay down. He didn't know why he did this instead of just sitting down beside Misty.  
"What are you doing here all alone?" he asked her, his brows furrowing.

"Nothing," she lied, her eyes wide. "I-I just needed to get away. Escape the crowd," she added, smiling briefly.

"How are you feeling now?" he looked at her in concern, deciding to ask indirectly if she were okay.

"I've been better," the girl admitted, laughing slightly.

"Paul just a jerk. Don't listen to a work he said."

"I'm fine, I, uh, I didn't, I'm not letting what he said get to me," Misty replied defensively. It seemed as though she was trying to convince herself .

"Don't. Because what he said wasn't true at all," Ash smiled at her slightly. "You're an amazing trainer, and always will be."

Misty was silent for a few seconds until she said in a small voice, "Thanks, Ash. It means a lot, really."

They stared at each other.

Ash patted the space of bed beside him. Misty got the idea and lay down on his right side. Ash lifted his arm and put it around her, not even thinking at all. It was impulse and instinctive.

Misty blushed slightly and buried her head into his chest to hide it. This caused Ash to blush. Luckily Misty didn't see that as her face was out of view.

"Ash…" Misty began.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks…"

"For what?"

"For sticking up for me back there."

"No need to thank me. That's what friends are for, right?" Ash smiled, looking at her. Misty looked up and met his gaze and they both blushed slightly again.

_Oh man, what am I doing, what am I doing?_ Ash asked himself as he started to think again. His heart started beating considerably faster and Ash was sure Misty could hear it, since her ear was pressed to his chest. _Calm down, just calm down_.

"Yeah, I guess," Misty responded, inhaling deeply then breathing out in a big sigh.

_Kiss her Ash. Kiss her_, a demanding voice told him in his head. _You're this close to her already. What's one more step?  
Shut up, _he told the little voice angrily. _Stop thinking Ash, just stop._

_But how can I stop thinking? It's impossible to think of nothing. It's been proven. Do I think of battling? Of pokemon? No, no, no. I can't let my mind go that far. Then what do I think of? Arg!_

"Ash, are _you_ okay?" Misty looked up at him, slightly concerned.

"Huh?" Ash snapped out of it. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You're fidgeting and you look worried," Misty observed.

"I am?" Ash asked quickly. "I mean, I am not." Stubborn as always.

"Yes, you are." Misty replied, smelling a fight on the way.

But for once in his life, Ash didn't want to fight with her. He was enjoying this peaceful and meaningful moment with her. To stop himself from retaliating, he focused on the feel of her head on his chest, his hand stroking her shoulder and arm, and the floral-y smell of her hair.

After five more minutes of this, something nudged Ash in the back of his mind.

Misty tilted her head up towards his and looked at him.

Ash stared back.

He leaned in.

She fluttered her eyes closed.

They were closer.

Closer.

Ash could see every long eyelash on her eyes.

He leaned in more…

They were almost touching…

Closer…

Ash's heart skipped a beat as his lips parted slightly…

Closer…

_**BANG.**_

The door went flying open. Ash flew up in top notch speed to a sitting position and Misty did the same.

Delia walked in holding a laundry basket filled with clothes. "Oh, hello Ash, Misty!" She smiled at the pair of them. "Ash honey, I cleaned all of the dirty underwear that was on your floor. Here they are, make sure you put them away! And Misty, would you like any cake? There are a few pieces left!"

Ash and Misty just stared at her.

Misty cleared her throat quickly and said, "No thanks, Mrs. Ketchum."

Ash just glared at his mother, unable to believe her timing. "Mom!" he said angrily. "Couldn't you just have knocked or left my… _clothes_ outside of the door?" The nerve of her, talking about his dirty underwear in front of Misty! His mother was truly tactless at times.

"Well you seemed to be missing from the party, so I wanted to see where you were!" Delia, completely disregarding what she said before, started putting away Ash's undergarments in his drawers. "This isn't proper behavior for a host, honey, you can't keep hiding away like this!" she said sternly.

"I'm not _hiding_," he grumbled, getting up from his bed.

Misty grabbed his hand and nodded towards the door. "We should get back…" she said in a small voice.

Ash shot one more militant glare at his mother, who just smiled at him fondly, before following Misty out of his room, their hands still intertwined.


	12. Chapter 12

So I've decided that this will be the last chapter of this story. I hope you all are happy with the ending. Sorry that the ending chapter is so short. I was expecting it to go on for another three chapters, but there's really nothing else to write.

One you're done, please please review and tell me what you think of the whole story. Thank you everyone for all of the support!! :)

And don't worry; I'll have more pokeshipping stories eventually! ;)

Ps. If you like contestships, you should check out my other stories. For all of you who have already read them, I'm writing another Halloween inspired one that I should post in a week or so.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the last chapter! :D Thank you all for reading!

* * * * *

Ash and Misty exited the house and into the backyard. The sun was almost fully set now; only a thin line of golden light remained in the western sky, leaving just enough visibility. The rest of the sky was a dark indigo, and many stars were beginning to awaken, twinkling down on the cheery partiers.

It took Ash a minute to realize that almost everyone was silent as they materialized into the yard. Their stares bored into Ash, making him feel self conscious.

Someone wolf-whistled.

"What have you two been _doing_ in there together all this time?" May asked suggestively as she winked.

Ash looked down and realized he was still holding onto Misty's hand. He hadn't even noticed it; it felt so normal, almost _natural_. Hastily he let it drop.  
He immediately regretted that action once he saw the small flicker of emotion that danced across Misty's face. _Why should I hide it_? Ash thought angrily, a new sense of bravery and defensiveness filling his mind. Ash was about to retort to May's comment with something immature, such as 'Ugh, I'd never do anything with _her_!', but he kept his mouth shut. It was about time he grew up.

"Come on, you guys," Angie, who was sitting with Anabel, piped up. "They both made it clear they aren't interested in each other, so can we stop bugging them?"

This made Ash frown. He was touched by Angie's defensiveness, but at the same time, what she said was completely wrong. Did he want people to think that way? He wasn't sure. He _did _love Misty- of course he did. But was it time that he let people know this? Was it about time that he let _Misty _know?

"She's right," Brock said, half amused. "They're only just friends. That's all they've ever been."

But _was_ it?

"And all they ever will be," May smirked, adding to the fuel.

Ash growled on the inside. Everything they said was completely wrong. It was aggravating him. Little did he know that his frustration was playing itself well across his face.

"Nothing more," Dawn concluded slyly.

And then Ash felt lips on his.

The fraction of a second that his eyes were open, he knew it was _her_. All he saw was the flaming red hair and then his eyes just fluttered closed instinctively. One hand somehow found its way around Misty's waist and the other on the back of her neck and in her hair.

He kissed her back softly, but with as much passion as he was being kissed. Ash was completely unaware of his surroundings; unaware of the giggling and whooping that had started up; unaware of the grass he was standing on; unaware of the cool breeze that surrounded them. He was only aware of Misty.

And from that moment on that was pretty much all he was aware of.

It was pretty much all he had ever been aware of.

Misty.

She was the thing that gave meaning to his life. She was the person who made him so mad and so happy that it was unbelievable you could find both of those in one person. She was the one who would always be by his side, even when they fought. She was the one he who brought out the best (and the worst) in him. She was the one he wouldn't change a thing for.  
She was the star that lit up the sky on a starless night. She was the flower to his nose. She was the music to his ears. She was the pokemon to his battle.  
She was the icing to his cake.

* * * * *

AAML Forever 3

(I'm the queen of overly dramatically cheesy endings, aren't I?)


End file.
